Zwift iOS running in background

In this feature request, which was marked as closed in May, a question was posed about being able to run Zwift in the background on iOS: https://support.zwift.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115017726223-iOS-connectivity 

When I tried switching from my Zwift ride to e.g. YouTube, my ride pauses and connectivity to my trainer (Tacx Vortex) is lost.

Does anyone know if this is supposed to be fixed already? I would love to be able to record a ride on Zwift, but at the same time going on YouTube or Netflix.

Thanks

I added the comment below to the post you linked to above - but since that post has been marked “answered”, figured I’d post here also:

I downloaded the iOS app today, and the app still drops all my bluetooth connections when it goes into the background. This is very frustrating, as I can’t access my music app, or Apple TV app when running Zwift.    

According to the following post dated today, Feb 13 2018, “You can lock your device’s screen, or send the app to the background while BLE devices are connected, and the app will continue to work”. https://support.zwift.com/hc/en-us/articles/206576683-Pairing-to-Zwift-with-Bluetooth-LE-BLE-

This should be an easy fix for your engineers - can you please have them address this in the next release of the app?  https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/NetworkingInternetWeb/Conceptual/CoreBluetooth_concepts/CoreBluetoothBackgroundProcessingForIOSApps/PerformingTasksWhileYourAppIsInTheBackground.html

Thanks!

So I asked Zwift support about this issue, and they indicated that its something they know about.

They said that they have had problems with the app not dropping bluetooth connections when the app is terminated - and to address this, they drop the bluetooth connections anytime the app goes into background mode.

Seems odd to me, as both TrainerRoad and the training software for my Elite trainer don’t have this problem i.e. they work fine in background mode, and when the apps are terminated they drop the connections appropriately.  

Hopefully it’ll be something they get to in a future release…

Is there any update on this? You’re right, TrainerRoad has got it working.

As far as I know, the iOS app version of Zwift still behaves this way. 

I get around this issue by running Zwift on my laptop, and use ZCA on my iPhone mounted on my handlebars as a remote control for Zwift. When ZCA goes into background mode, it successfully retains all its BLE connections.