ReactJs PWA not updating on iOS

Question

I'm building a ReactJs PWA but I'm having trouble detecting updates on iOS.

On Android everything is working great so I'm wondering if all of this is related to iOS support for PWAs or if my implementation of the service worker is not good.

Here's what I've done so far:

Build process and hosting

My app is built using webpack and hosted on AWS. Most of the files (js/css) are built with some hash in their name, generated from their content. For those which aren't (app manifest, index.html, sw.js), I made sure that AWS serves them with some Cache-Control headers preventing any cache. Everything is served over https.

Service Worker

I kept this one as simple as possible : I didn't add any cache rules except precache for my app-shell:

workbox.precaching.precacheAndRoute(self.__precacheManifest || []);

Service-worker registration

Registration of the service worker occurs in the main ReactJs App component, in the componentDidMount() lifecycle hook:

componentDidMount() {
  if ('serviceWorker' in navigator) {
    navigator.serviceWorker.register('/sw.js')
      .then((reg) => {
        reg.onupdatefound = () => {
          this.newWorker = reg.installing;
          this.newWorker.onstatechange = () => {
            if (this.newWorker.state === 'installed') {
              if (reg.active) {
                // a version of the SW is already up and running

                /*
                  code omitted: displays a snackbar to the user to manually trigger
                  activation of the new SW. This will be done by calling skipWaiting()
                  then reloading the page
                */
              } else {
                // first service worker registration, do nothing
              }
            }
          };
        };
      });
  }
}

Service worker lifecycle management

According to the Google documentation about service workers, a new version of the service worker should be detected when navigating to an in-scope page. But as a single-page application, there is no hard navigation happening once the app has been loaded.

The workaround I found for this is to hook into react-router and listen for route changes, then manually ask the registered service worker to update itself :

const history = createBrowserHistory(); // from 'history' node package
history.listen(() => {
  if ('serviceWorker' in navigator) {
    navigator.serviceWorker
      .getRegistration()
      .then((reg) => {

        if (!reg) {
          return null;
        }

        reg.update();
      });
  }
});

Actual behavior

Throwing a bunch of alert() everywhere in the code showed above, this is what I observe :

1. When opening the pwa for the first time after adding it to the homescreen, the service worker is registered as expected, on Android and iOS
2. While keeping the app opened, I deploy a new version on AWS. Navigating in the app triggers the manual update thanks to my history listener. The new version is found, installed in the background. Then my snackbar is displayed and I can trigger the switch to the new SW.
3. Now I close the app and deploy a new version on AWS. When opening the app again :
   • On Android the update is found immediately as Android reloads the page
   • iOS does not, so I need to navigate within the app for my history listener to trigger the search for an update. When doing so, the update is found
   • After this, for both OS, my snackbar is displayed and I can trigger the switch to the new SW
4. Now I close the app and turn off the phones. After deploying a new version, I start them again and open the app :
   • On Android, just like before, the page is reloaded which detects the update, then the snackbar is displayed, etc..
   • On iOS, I navigate within the app and my listener triggers the search for an update. But this time, the new version is never found and my onupdatefound event handler is never triggered

---

Reading this post on Medium from Maximiliano Firtman, it seems that iOS 12.2 has brought a new lifecycle for PWAs. According to him, when the app stays idle for a long time or during a reboot of the device, the app state is killed, as well as the page.

I'm wondering if this could be the root cause of my problem here, but I was not able to find anyone having the same trouble so far.

Answer 1

So after a lot of digging and investigation, I finally found out what was my problem.

From what I was able to observe, I think there is a little difference in the way Android and iOS handle PWAs lifecycle, as well as service workers.

On Android, when starting the app after a reboot, it looks like starting the app and searching an update of the service worker (thanks to the hard navigation occuring when reloading the page) are 2 tasks done in parallel. By doing that, the app have enough time to subscribe to the already existing service worker and define a onupdatefound() handler before the new version of the service worker is found.

On the other hand with iOS, it seems that when you start the app after a reboot of the device (or after not using it for a long period, see Medium article linked in the main topic), iOS triggers the search for an update before starting your app. And if an update is found, it will be installed and and enter its 'waiting' status before the app is actually started. This is probably what happens when the splashscreen is displayed... So in the end, when your app finally starts and you subscribe to the already existing service worker to define your onupdatefound() handler, the update has already been installed and is waiting to take control of the clients.

So here is my final code to register the service worker :

componentDidMount() {
  if ('serviceWorker' in navigator) {
    navigator.serviceWorker.register('/sw.js')
      .then((reg) => {

        if (reg.waiting) {
          // a new version is already waiting to take control
          this.newWorker = reg.waiting;

          /*
            code omitted: displays a snackbar to the user to manually trigger
            activation of the new SW. This will be done by calling skipWaiting()
            then reloading the page
          */
        }

        // handler for updates occuring while the app is running, either actively or in the background
        reg.onupdatefound = () => {
          this.newWorker = reg.installing;

          this.newWorker.onstatechange = () => {
            if (this.newWorker.state === 'installed') {
              if (reg.active) {
                // a version of the SW already has control over the app

                /*
                  same code omitted
                */
              } else {
                // very first service worker registration, do nothing
              }
            }
          };
        };
      });
  }
}

Note :

I also got rid of my listener on history that I used to trigger the search for an update on every route change, as it seemed overkill. Now I rely on the Page Visibility API to trigger this search every time the app gets the focus :

// this function is called in the service worker registration promise, providing the ServiceWorkerRegistration instance
const registerPwaOpeningHandler = (reg) => {
    let hidden;
    let visibilityChange;
    if (typeof document.hidden !== 'undefined') { // Opera 12.10 and Firefox 18 and later support
        hidden = 'hidden';
        visibilityChange = 'visibilitychange';
    } else if (typeof document.msHidden !== 'undefined') {
        hidden = 'msHidden';
        visibilityChange = 'msvisibilitychange';
    } else if (typeof document.webkitHidden !== 'undefined') {
        hidden = 'webkitHidden';
        visibilityChange = 'webkitvisibilitychange';
    }

    window.document.addEventListener(visibilityChange, () => {
        if (!document[hidden]) {
            // manually force detection of a potential update when the pwa is opened
            reg.update();
        }
    });

    return reg;
};

Answer 2

As noted by Speckles (thanks for saving me the headache), iOS installs the new SW before launching the app. So the SW doesn't get a chance to catch the 'installing' state.

Work-around: check if the registration is in the waiting state then handle it.

I've made an (untested) example of handling this. - a mod to the default CRA SW.