Widget refresh rate

Support
#1

I really love using GoodTask widgets on my iPhone home screen. However, when I check off a task or make changes on my Mac laptop, the widgets on my phone don't update until I open the GoodTask app on my phone. I know that Apple limits how often a widget can reload, but my widgets seem to never refresh on their own. It seems like the whole GoodTask app never refreshes in the background either. The Apple Reminders app does refresh in the background frequently. Other app widgets refresh throughout the day as well, even if I never open the actual app (for example, Hello Weather).

I have checked background app sync settings, logged out and back into iCloud on both devices, checked iCloud storage space, deleted cache files, deleted hundreds of completed Reminders, restarted both devices many times, everything I can think of to force background refresh to start up again. But maybe it's just not supposed to work that way?

#2

Hi @Redaxel, thanks for the feedback.

GoodTask uses background app refresh to fetch changes that's made on other devices/Reminders. When it succeeds, it should reflect the changes to the badge and the widget.

On my personal use, it gets refreshed throughout the time without opening the app. But it seems like this may differ between users/devices.

I'll give it another look. Others may share experiences if possible. Thanks!

#3

I'm having the same problem. the widget is not updating tasks. however, when I open the GT app, it identifies the new tasks created, and updates the widget (unfortunately that way I am not satisfied). how to resolve for the widget to update automatically?

#4

Hi @Matheusandradearaujo, thanks for the feedback.

  1. You need to have background app refresh on
  2. You should not swipe up to close the app on app switcher which will force close the app and block background app refresh.

If it’s all set properly but refresh doesn’t work, let me know how you’re making changes on the data. Thanks!

#5

Thanks for the quick response!

my background updates are enabled for all my apps, both on wifi and 4G. is there anything else I should check in this configuration?

about not closing the GT app (sliding upwards), I just did a test and kept the app open, but even so the widget continued without updating tasks and calendar events.

as soon as i click on the widget, and open the app, it updates both at the same time.

how should I proceed?

#6

Normally background app refresh is handled by iOS. It runs between every 10 minutes and once per day depending on the app usage and other unknown factors.

On other than the app itself, where do you edit tasks and events?

#7

I just added a test, and after 10 minutes, I realized that the original ios reminder widget didn't update either. I clicked on it, opened the reminder app, and so that leaves updated only him (ios reminders). the GT widget, although 10 minutes have passed, still doesn't update.

#8

I am having a similar problem, though it is not just the widget but the Goodtasks app itself that is not syncing between Mac and iPhone. More specifically, I noticed that the Reminders app between my Mac and iPhone were not synced until I opened Reminders on my iPhone.

For example, I cleared a task in Goodtask on my Mac. The Reminders app on the Mac reflected this change. However, the Reminders app on the iPhone did sync this change (until I opened it), thus Goodtask did not clear the task either. What can I do to fix this? Thx.

#9

Hi @YaYaTurre, thanks for the feedback. About Reminders database itself not syncing, there is not much GoodTask can do. It's on iOS/macOS to do the job under the hood. On GoodTask side, you may try 'Refresh' if the data is not syncing even if you opened the app. You may try restarting the device too. Thanks!

#10

Couple years on, this still seems to be a problem. If I tap on the widget to open the app, it will refresh, but that kinda defeats the purposes of having the widget there on the Home Screen for easy glancing at.

Is there anything that can be done to improve the refresh rate?

#11

Hi @skeo, thanks for the feedback.

Check below things.

  • Settings - Advanced - iCloud Active Sync
  • Background App Refresh turned on inside default Settings app (Do not force quit the app - Swipe up in app switcher)
  • iCloud Drive turned on inside default Settings app

If you change data in other devices, it could refresh pretty quick if it runs through all the hoops successfully. If not, it'll rely on Background app refresh. This is managed by iOS which will run as frequently as every 10 minutes or once per day. It seems like it's depending on app usage but not sure since Apple does not open exact data.

Thanks!