Introduce "Pause Background Activity"

[ruangraung]

The title said it. I just downloaded the latest version 1.6 and now there is a new feature "Pause Background Activity". Can anyone explain what this new feature does? And what benefits do I get from activating this new feature? Thanks.

[mhaeuser]

Related discussion is here: #73

(Yes, I know, I need better docs…)

[Shnub]

Perhaps you don't need better docs, just a better name? If it were simply called "Pause App" or "Pause Charging Restrictions", it should be immediately clear what this functions does. (Yes, the former name is not technically very accurate; but neither is an ad blocker's "Pause AdBlocker" function, and yet every user grasps what it does. ;-))

Also (for lack of a better place to say this), a big thank you for providing this app! It does exactly what I need (and what Apple should be offering in the first place). If you were to include a PayPal link or similar somewhere, I'd be happy send you a tip.

[mhaeuser]

Well, yes, I’m equally bad with names. I’m trying to be accurate, Background Activity includes things like Power Adapter state and, once I get to it, charging schedules. It’s also the name used by System Settings, so I tried to stay consistent with that. Oh well…

Regarding PayPal, thanks, but what many call “donation” is actually “taxed income”, at least in Germany, and I may not receive such due to my research contract details. I might put up a PayPal link to a charity some day, but there isn’t an account yet (SEPA only).

[Shnub]

Just curious... Where does System Settings use the term "background activity"? I just searched for that (on Sequoia) and the only results were the "Battery" section and its "Low Power Mode"... and I can't find the actual term in use even there.

The applicable section in "Login Items & Extensions" is called "Allow in the Background" (and curiously is not found by the above search...) and anything there, including Battery Toolkit, is just called a "background item". Not much to be consistent with...

Anyway, I'd definitely go for functional naming instead of technical accuracy. If you name it for what it does, it's much less likely users will have to ask what it actually does. ;-)

[mhaeuser]

Huh, indeed, somehow misremembered (or was it changed?)… “Background Activity” is used for non-foreground app battery usage (I just checked on iOS anyway), but not for Login Items. Arguably, “Background Item” is even worse.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m fine with naming it by what it does, but it does a bunch of (non-obvious) things, so it’s not like finding a better umbrella term is easy.