Updating iOS badge without push notifications

Question

I have seen a few todo apps that update their app badges at midnight, always showing the correct number of due tasks. They do this without the use of Push Notifications - so my question is: how do they do this? Do they use local notifications - if so, do these get called when the device is turned off? I'm a little confused and would appreciate some input.

Same question, but for macOS: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/392797/how-do-i-draw-a-badge-on-my-dock-icon-using-cocoa — Jon Schneider, Jun 11 '21 at 21:03

score 138 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 01 '15 at 07:52

138

Try this

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] setApplicationIconBadgeNumber:1];

To do this through local notifications you have to set the value in applicationIconBadgeNumber

UILocalNotification *localNotification = [[UILocalNotification alloc] init];
localNotification.applicationIconBadgeNumber = 1;// set here the value of badge

edited Oct 01 '15 at 07:52

Mohsin Khubaib Ahmed

1,008
16
32

answered Feb 01 '11 at 10:02

raaz

12,410
22
64
81

1

This is how you change the badge number - but in order to do it while the app is in the background or if the phone is asleep, you may need to look into local notifications, or scheduled tasks. – Jasarien Feb 01 '11 at 10:06
2

In iOS 8.0 and later, your application must register for user notifications using -[UIApplication registerUserNotificationSettings:] before being able to set the icon badge. – unom Aug 24 '16 at 13:12

score 17 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 12 '17 at 18:34

17

And for everyone using new and shiny Swift:

UIApplication.sharedApplication().applicationIconBadgeNumber = someNumber

Swift 3:

UIApplication.shared.applicationIconBadgeNumber = someNumber

edited Apr 12 '17 at 18:34

Patrick Tescher

3,387
1
18
31

answered Aug 04 '15 at 13:40

Jiri Trecak

5,092
26
37

2

when suggesting swift answers it is a good practice to include which version are you covering, since it is very dynamic right now. – Juan Boero Dec 09 '15 at 21:48
yes you are right ; In this case however, there is nothing in the syntax that could possibly change (it is simple assignment) so probably not needed :) – Jiri Trecak Dec 09 '15 at 21:49
3

Jiri, amusing comment in hindsight ;-) – Tim Nov 01 '17 at 14:41

score 13 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 01 '11 at 10:11

13

Since iOS 4.0 you can fire local notifications on all devices that run at least iOS 4.0. Look into the UILocalNotification class, it allows you to set the badge at midnight without having your app running.

answered Feb 01 '11 at 10:11

JustSid

25,168
7
79
97

Uhm, the iPhone isn't even capable to start the alarm clock when its powered off, so no, the badge won't update then. But when you turn it back on, it will fire the notification(s) that will update the badge. – JustSid Feb 01 '11 at 10:46
Ok, that's what I wanted to know. Thanks! – fabian789 Feb 01 '11 at 12:23

score 7 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 01 '11 at 10:02

7

Set UIApplication's applicationIconBadgeNumber property in your code when application is running:

[UIApplication sharedApplication].applicationIconBadgeNumber = someNumber;

answered Feb 01 '11 at 10:02

Vladimir

170,431
36
387
313

score 0 · Answer 5 · edited Aug 06 '16 at 12:38

0

For Objective C you have to use:

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] setApplicationIconBadgeNumber : anyNumber ];

edited Aug 06 '16 at 12:38

S. S

169
3
16

answered Jul 27 '16 at 11:48

Vaibhav Shiledar

939
8
15

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 20 '20 at 22:37

0

Swift 5

UIApplication.shared.applicationIconBadgeNumber = someNumber

answered Jul 20 '20 at 22:37

Ben

3,346
6
32
51

Updating iOS badge without push notifications

6 Answers6

Linked