Perform background tasks when app is terminated

I'm creating an application for my school which should check every n minutes if there is a new mark on the website. To do this when the user login for the first time, the number of the actual mark is saved in the "UserDefaults". When app is terminated, after n minutes, the number of mark is recounted and compared with the previous one and send a notification in case the number is changed.

What I'd like to know if there is a way to perform this task. I've tried to create a timer in -applicationWillTerminate- but it's fired only once. This is what I tried:

func applicationWillTerminate(_ application: UIApplication) {
    DispatchQueue.main.async {
        self.timer = Timer.scheduledTimer(timeInterval: 1, target: self, selector: #selector(AppDelegate.findMark), userInfo: nil, repeats: true)
        self.timer.fire()
    }
}

Selector findMark is the task.

Thanks in advance!

You have two options

Background App Refresh
Silent push notifications

Easiest one is Background App Refresh. Because later one needs a server to send the notification. You can check following API for the usage. Basically you set Background Fetch capability on Capabilities/Background Modes of your app. Then from time to time, iOS will wake up your app and call application(_:performFetchWithCompletionHandler:) delegate. You will have around 30-45 seconds to call your function and call completion handler. If you don't finish it on time, iOS will kill your app. If you don't obey the rules, iOS will give you less chances to wake up. For more detailed usage of Background Modes, you may check following tutorial

It's not possible to perform tasks like described in your question after the app is terminated. As described in the documentation:

App Termination

Apps must be prepared for termination to happen at any time and should not wait to save user data or perform other critical tasks. System-initiated termination is a normal part of an app’s life cycle. The system usually terminates apps so that it can reclaim memory and make room for other apps being launched by the user, but the system may also terminate apps that are misbehaving or not responding to events in a timely manner.

Suspended apps receive no notification when they are terminated; the system kills the process and reclaims the corresponding memory. If an app is currently running in the background and not suspended, the system calls the applicationWillTerminate: of its app delegate prior to termination. The system does not call this method when the device reboots.

In addition to the system terminating your app, the user can terminate your app explicitly using the multitasking UI. User-initiated termination has the same effect as terminating a suspended app. The app’s process is killed and no notification is sent to the app.

Link: https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/iPhone/Conceptual/iPhoneOSProgrammingGuide/TheAppLifeCycle/TheAppLifeCycle.html

Edit:

You cannot perform any task after the application is terminated. What you can do is get that calculation done from server side and send a Push Notification to the device.

Perform background tasks when app is terminated

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