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Mobile App Development vocabulary · App Lifecycle and Architecture

Background

Meaning in mobile app development, with examples

/ˈbækˌɡraʊnd/nounCore term

In mobile app development, background means: The state of an app that is still running or kept in memory but is not visible on the screen, for example after the user switches to another app.

In Turkish: arka plan

How it is used

Used in phrases like 'in the background', 'go to the background', 'background task' and 'background refresh'. Both iOS and Android strictly limit what an app can do in the background to save battery, so long-running work needs special APIs.

Example sentences

  1. The upload stops as soon as the app goes to the background.

  2. We refresh the news feed in the background so it's ready when users open the app.

Common collocations

  • in the background
  • go to the background
  • background task
  • background refresh
  • background mode
  • foregroundThe state of an app that is open and visible on the screen, so the user can interact with it directly.
  • app lifecycleThe series of states an app moves through from launch to being closed, such as active, in the background or suspended, and the events the system sends at each change.
  • battery drainFaster than normal battery use caused by an app, for example through constant location tracking, frequent network calls or work that keeps running in the background.
  • syncTo make the data on the device and on the server the same by sending local changes and downloading new ones; short for synchronize.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: App Lifecycle and Architecture

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