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They need to loosen the grips on that background services stuff. Would love to have apps like Dropbox and Owncloud not have to use the stupid location services

They need to loosen the grips on that background services stuff. Would love to have apps like Dropbox and Owncloud not have to use the stupid location services workaround just to background sync my pictures. Edit: Seriously? This gets down voted? How would this NOT be a helpful feature? It works wonderfully on my Android devices. Would love to see it on my iOS devices. Wow, Just wow. Bunch of fanboiz or something?

snuxoll 11y ago
I agree, actually. One thing I like about Windows Phone is the scheduled background agents - you can request the OS run a background agent on a schedule, and it will allow your application to update or sync data on a fairly regular basis even while running on battery, though with limits - and if the device is plugged in and connected to WiFi you get increased limits to do some more intense tasks. I don't need my photos to sync automatically draining battery and wasting data while I am on the mobile network, but when I'm at home for the night and my phone is charging is a perfect change for things to do big syncs like that. EDIT: Apple kind of added some similar functionality with background app refresh, but the fact that the system tries really hard to "guess" which apps you want updated and which you don't doesn't work so well - I am constantly having to launch SyncSolver to get it to post my Apple Watch steps to fitbit. Just let the apps I set to refresh run on a regular schedule, I can control what I don't want to update.
potatolicious 11y ago
Didn't downvote you - but generally complaining about downvotes is unclassy. I'll venture a guess and say that you might've been downvoted because "loosen the grips on that background services stuff" sounds a bit flippant - the restrictions exist for very good reason. That said, there is probably a good case for the case of background uploads to be added to the existing backgrounding framework as an additional use case, with its own set of governing rules (another user brought up: Wi-Fi only, while charging, while battery is high, while reception is good, etc). The solution to inconvenient background syncing IMO isn't opening the floodgates to everyone running their own daemons and sucking down battery power like it's their last day on Earth. It's a valuable use case, but not a good reason to "loosen the grips" so to speak.
- JustSomeNobody 11y ago
  RE: down vote. Point taken. I'll calm down. RE: Background services. It's a pocket computer. I want my devices to do more for me. When I set them down, I want them to continue to work for me so I can be productive. Just because something runs in the background doesn't automatically make it a battery suck nor does it make it a security risk.
  - MBCook 11y ago
    > RE: Background services. It's a pocket computer. It's not (per Apple). It's an appliance, and they use that as guidance in the decisions they make. It may be capable of acting like a computer, technically it obviously IS a computer, but Apple treats it as an appliance.
    - alanh 11y ago
      Not so black and white, really. Remember the recent Phil Schiller (I think) quote discussing how Apple sees their devices as a continuum, with more and more functionality going to more mobile, more personal computers? They see the Watch as replacing some amount of iPhone functionality, iPhone being able to do much of what iPad can, iPad largely replacing a laptop, and a laptop almost entirely obviating the desktop? So, in a sense, Apple does view the iPhone as a small and somewhat limited but very real "pocket laptop." I think the relevant distinction between iOS and OS X is that, with iOS, there is sort of an understanding that the user is granted less direct control, in exchange for a near-guarantee that they won’t have to worry about certain things (like malware, or to a certain extent, battery life) anymore.
      - MBCook 11y ago
        True. The iPhone is very appliance like. The iPad is clearly capable of much more, but in many ways is limited by iOS, even if solely when it comes to the interface. But it's pretty clear to me that that Apple is not selling the iPhone as a general purpose computer, and that's fine with me.
derrickdirge 11y ago
This is an excellent example of how not to respond to being downvoted. Take a step back and a nice deep breath and consider why you might have been downvoted. It may have more to do with the tone of your delivery than the actual content of your message. Lashing out at those who disagree with you with baseless accusations is counterproductive.
- themartorana 11y ago
  Downvoting needs to go away. Upvoting a good comment is a positive action. Downvoting is a power trip, and in many ways protectionist and exclusive. I've seen too many comments downvoted based on unpopular opinions which were perfectly constructive and appropriately toned. People are very happy to exercise their ability to punish others when given that power. It's gotten out of hand here. Edit: here being HN, not necessarily this thread.
  - dang 11y ago
    Can you give us links to "perfectly constructive and appropriately toned" comments that are in a downvoted state? What you're saying doesn't match what I typically observe on HN, which is (a) that most downvoted comments have something wrong with them, not just an unpopular opinion, and (b) inappropriate downvotes usually get canceled out be users who see a good comment faded faded and give it a corrective upvote.
dang 11y ago
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10882514 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10882514 and marked it off-topic.

snuxoll 11y ago

I agree, actually. One thing I like about Windows Phone is the scheduled background agents - you can request the OS run a background agent on a schedule, and it will allow your application to update or sync data on a fairly regular basis even while running on battery, though with limits - and if the device is plugged in and connected to WiFi you get increased limits to do some more intense tasks. I don't need my photos to sync automatically draining battery and wasting data while I am on the mobile network, but when I'm at home for the night and my phone is charging is a perfect change for things to do big syncs like that. EDIT: Apple kind of added some similar functionality with background app refresh, but the fact that the system tries really hard to "guess" which apps you want updated and which you don't doesn't work so well - I am constantly having to launch SyncSolver to get it to post my Apple Watch steps to fitbit. Just let the apps I set to refresh run on a regular schedule, I can control what I don't want to update.

potatolicious 11y ago

Didn't downvote you - but generally complaining about downvotes is unclassy. I'll venture a guess and say that you might've been downvoted because "loosen the grips on that background services stuff" sounds a bit flippant - the restrictions exist for very good reason. That said, there is probably a good case for the case of background uploads to be added to the existing backgrounding framework as an additional use case, with its own set of governing rules (another user brought up: Wi-Fi only, while charging, while battery is high, while reception is good, etc). The solution to inconvenient background syncing IMO isn't opening the floodgates to everyone running their own daemons and sucking down battery power like it's their last day on Earth. It's a valuable use case, but not a good reason to "loosen the grips" so to speak.

JustSomeNobody 11y ago
RE: down vote. Point taken. I'll calm down. RE: Background services. It's a pocket computer. I want my devices to do more for me. When I set them down, I want them to continue to work for me so I can be productive. Just because something runs in the background doesn't automatically make it a battery suck nor does it make it a security risk.
- MBCook 11y ago
  > RE: Background services. It's a pocket computer. It's not (per Apple). It's an appliance, and they use that as guidance in the decisions they make. It may be capable of acting like a computer, technically it obviously IS a computer, but Apple treats it as an appliance.
  - alanh 11y ago
    Not so black and white, really. Remember the recent Phil Schiller (I think) quote discussing how Apple sees their devices as a continuum, with more and more functionality going to more mobile, more personal computers? They see the Watch as replacing some amount of iPhone functionality, iPhone being able to do much of what iPad can, iPad largely replacing a laptop, and a laptop almost entirely obviating the desktop? So, in a sense, Apple does view the iPhone as a small and somewhat limited but very real "pocket laptop." I think the relevant distinction between iOS and OS X is that, with iOS, there is sort of an understanding that the user is granted less direct control, in exchange for a near-guarantee that they won’t have to worry about certain things (like malware, or to a certain extent, battery life) anymore.
    - MBCook 11y ago
      True. The iPhone is very appliance like. The iPad is clearly capable of much more, but in many ways is limited by iOS, even if solely when it comes to the interface. But it's pretty clear to me that that Apple is not selling the iPhone as a general purpose computer, and that's fine with me.

derrickdirge 11y ago

This is an excellent example of how not to respond to being downvoted. Take a step back and a nice deep breath and consider why you might have been downvoted. It may have more to do with the tone of your delivery than the actual content of your message. Lashing out at those who disagree with you with baseless accusations is counterproductive.

themartorana 11y ago
Downvoting needs to go away. Upvoting a good comment is a positive action. Downvoting is a power trip, and in many ways protectionist and exclusive. I've seen too many comments downvoted based on unpopular opinions which were perfectly constructive and appropriately toned. People are very happy to exercise their ability to punish others when given that power. It's gotten out of hand here. Edit: here being HN, not necessarily this thread.
- dang 11y ago
  Can you give us links to "perfectly constructive and appropriately toned" comments that are in a downvoted state? What you're saying doesn't match what I typically observe on HN, which is (a) that most downvoted comments have something wrong with them, not just an unpopular opinion, and (b) inappropriate downvotes usually get canceled out be users who see a good comment faded faded and give it a corrective upvote.

dang 11y ago

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10882514 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10882514 and marked it off-topic.