Triggering app action from backend silently

Hi everyone,

we have developed mobile app, our own HW device, which we are already selling to customers, and backend that ties it all together. We are using VoIP push notifications to trigger application action when necessary, but after the changes to PushKit in iOS 13 it won't be possible anymore as our app isn't making VoIP calls when receiving the VoIP notification.


I studied many resources and it appears to me that there is no way for us to keep our app functional on iOS 13 onwards without drastic changes in all the parts of the product and even if we make it, it will negatively impact user experience as we won't be able to support the functionality completely.


Our device is kind of a smart alarm, which keeps the area armed or disarmed based on presence of mobile devices (our app lets server know when it is in the area).

The most problematic scenario we will have problem to solve is when some user leaves the area and other stays. In that moment we start timeout to arm the place and send VoIP push notification to the other devices asking them if they are present. If some mobile device replies it is, we will cancel the arming procedure. I don't see good solution for the situation when the phone is inside the geofence that would work reliably.

We tried many options like silent notifications (background fetch), I also checked the new background task execution, but I just cannot find anything that would work for us and that would allow us to have as good user experience as we want.


Is there anything I'm missing or we're in a really bad situation as I fear?
Thanks a lot,
Luboš