I posted about the results of some experiments I had done using the iOS background modes for Bluetooth. At the time I hadn't updated any devices to iOS8 (and they would have been betas anyway). This is a quick update to confirm that there are no changes in these areas that I can see in iOS8.
If you do know of any iOS8 changes or workarounds to the issues described please let me know
Basic Findings (repeated from earlier article)
- Apps on BLE capable iOS devices can be woken from the background when a device with the correct UUID is detected even when they have been completely removed from memory due to other apps needing the memory.
- This background listening/advertising state is stopped if the app is deliberately closed by the user swiping it up from the task switcher.
- The background listening/advertising state is stopped if the device is switched off or runs out of battery. It isn't restarted until the App is run again. (I haven't actually retested running out of battery but am guessing it is the same as manually powering off I will try to test again when the battery on something is getting low)
Please see the previous article for discussion of the impact on on app design and some potential workarounds.