For iOS, I am aware that apps can upload in the background, as according to this thread: Uploading in background thread in iOS When I refer to "background", I mean the user has clicked the home button, using another app, or the phone's screen is off. Follow-up Questions: 1. Is there a timeout limit to the background uploading? This may be an issue if the file being uploaded is huge. 2. Is it possible to upload a list of files in the background, or does it only support the finishing of one upload that was in progress before the user switched to another app? 3. I suppose if the user quits the app completely, the upload will be stopped? Quitting completely as in, user double clicks home button, touches and holds down on the app until it starts shaking, then clicks the "X" to shut it down.