react-native-background-task

React Native background task module for iOS that allows network requests to finish when app is in background.

Installation

npm install @cubeking/react-native-background-task --save
# or
yarn add @cubeking/react-native-background-task

iOS Setup

1. Add the following to your Podfile:

pod 'RNBackgroundTask', :path => '../node_modules/react-native-background-task'

2. Run pod install:

cd ios && pod install

3. Add background modes to your Info.plist:

<key>UIBackgroundModes</key>
<array>
    <string>fetch</string>
    <string>processing</string>
</array>

Usage Example

import BackgroundTask from 'react-native-background-task';

// Start a background task
const taskId = await BackgroundTask.startBackgroundTask();

try {
  // Do your background work here
  // For example: network requests, file uploads, etc.
  await someBackgroundWork();
} finally {
  // Always end the background task when done
  if (taskId) {
    await BackgroundTask.endBackgroundTask(taskId);
  }
}

API Reference

Methods

startBackgroundTask()

• Returns: Promise<number> - Task ID for the background task
• Throws: Error if background task cannot be started

endBackgroundTask(taskId: number)

• Parameters:
  • taskId: The task ID returned from startBackgroundTask()
• Returns: Promise<boolean> - True if task was successfully ended
• Throws: Error if task ID is invalid

Notes

• Background execution time is limited to approximately 30 seconds on iOS
• Always ensure background tasks are ended to avoid battery drain
• Handle task expiration gracefully
• Check Platform.OS before calling iOS-specific methods
• Clean up tasks in component unmount

License

MIT