How would I make setInterval run when out of focus?

Question

In my current website I'm trying to make a cookie clicker type game... But when I run the collector for currency per second it slows down when I switch tabs...

Here is the script:

setInterval(ppsCollector,16.6666666667);
function ppsCollector() {
  var ppf = pps / 60;
  pounds += ppf;
  document.getElementById("poundCount").innerHTML = metricAbbreviate(pounds);
  document.getElementById("pps").innerHTML = metricAbbreviate(pps);
}

Is there any way to run this at the same rate when out of focus?

Thanks for all help in advance. :)

Can you indicate what browser/device/OS you are running into this issue with? — vbguyny, Dec 06 '16 at 20:38

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:52

After doing some research on this issue it looks like browsers forcible increase the interval of background tabs in order to prevent the machine from slowing down if they have a bunch of tabs open. However there are some workarounds that you can implement (see here for complete list).

I recommend that you take a look at HTML5 Web Workers. The only con is that they cannot access the DOM directly so you are going to need to utilize the PostMessage method to send a message back to the parent JavaScript in order to update the desired elements.

How would I make setInterval run when out of focus?

1 Answers1