App Store Guideline 2.5.4: Background Modes for Workout Apps

The guideline text#

Quoted verbatim from Apple's App Review Guidelines, which the page states were last updated June 8, 2026. We checked the text on October 3, 2026. Apple revises the guidelines and sometimes renumbers sub-items, so compare this against the live page before you cite it in a reply to App Review.

2.5.4 Multitasking apps may only use background services for their intended purposes: VoIP, audio playback, location, task completion, local notifications, etc.

That is the whole guideline. It doesn't mention workouts; its list ends with "etc." and doesn't name a workout mode. What a workout app's background modes are for is set out in Apple's developer documentation, quoted below.

What Apple's documentation says about workout apps#

Apple Watch workout sessions#

Apple's Running workout sessions article ("Track a workout on Apple Watch") says:

Apps with an active workout session can run in the background, so you need to add the background modes capability to your WatchKit App Extension.

Workout sessions require the Workout processing background mode. If your app plays audio or provides haptic feedback during the workout session, you must also add the Audio background mode.

On audio, the same article adds a note (Apple's grammar, quoted as written):

Workout apps can use the AVFoundation framework to play short audio clips in the background, such as coaching or notifications. In order to play an audio clip, an active workout session must be running; any attempt to play background audio outside a workout session are invalid.

It also limits how much the app may do while in the background:

To maintain high performance on Apple Watch, you must limit the amount of work your app performs in the background. If your app uses an excessive amount of CPU while in the background, watchOS may suspend it.

Background location for route tracking#

Apple's Handling location updates in the background article opens with a caution:

Consider carefully whether your app really needs background location updates. Most apps need location data only while someone actively uses the app. Consider background updates only when your app needs to receive those updates in real time, perhaps to:

The first item on Apple's list is "Track the precise path taken during a hike or fitness workout." The article says to enable the Location updates option on the Signing & Capabilities tab, to receive updates through a CLBackgroundActivitySession, and: "For Always authorization, inform the user that location updates arrive in the background."

Where the modes are declared#

The modes live in the UIBackgroundModes Info.plist key, which Apple's reference describes as "Services provided by an app that require it to run in the background." Apple says: "To add this key to your Information Property List, enable the Background Modes capability in Xcode."

What it means for a workout app#

Every background mode the app declares should match something a reviewer can see running in the background:

On Apple Watch, background audio depends on the workout session. Apple says a clip can play only while an active workout session is running.

What typically triggers it in a workout app#

These come from the guideline text and Apple's documentation, not from a log of rejections.

• The Audio mode with nothing to play. Declaring the Audio background mode to keep the app alive when it doesn't play audio. 2.5.4 limits background services to their intended purposes, and the one it lists for audio is playback.
• Background location with no live use. The Location updates mode is on, but the app only uses location while it's open, for example to set a home city. Apple's Core Location documentation says most apps need location only while someone actively uses the app.
• Background audio outside a workout session on Apple Watch. Apple calls any attempt to play background audio outside a workout session invalid.
• Modes left over from a removed feature. A mode no feature uses has no intended purpose to point to.

Checklist before you resubmit#

1. List every background mode the app declares. Open UIBackgroundModes in Info.plist, which Xcode writes when you enable the Background Modes capability, and match each mode to a feature a reviewer can see. Remove any mode no feature uses: guideline 2.5.4 allows background services only for their intended purposes.
2. Declare Workout processing for Apple Watch workout sessions. Apple's HealthKit documentation says workout sessions require the Workout processing background mode, added through the background modes capability on the WatchKit App Extension.
3. Add Audio only if the workout plays audio or haptics. Apple says to add the Audio background mode if the app plays audio or provides haptic feedback during the workout session, and that playing a background audio clip requires an active workout session.
4. Tie background location to a live feature. Keep the Location updates mode only if the app needs updates in real time, such as recording a route. Apple's Core Location documentation names tracking the precise path of a hike or fitness workout, and says most apps need location only while someone actively uses the app.
5. Tell users when location arrives in the background. For Always authorization, Apple's Core Location documentation says to inform the user that location updates arrive in the background.
6. Keep background work light on Apple Watch. Apple warns that watchOS may suspend an app that uses an excessive amount of CPU in the background. Test with Xcode's CPU report or the time profiler in Instruments, as Apple suggests.

Related#

• How watchOS keeps a workout app running is covered in background execution on Apple Watch and the anatomy of a watchOS workout app.
• What App Review expects of HealthKit data itself is in the App Store health data rules overview.
• If your app's workouts can be started by voice, see guideline 2.5.11: SiriKit and Shortcuts.

A note on limits#

The workout-session article quoted here is about Apple Watch, and we haven't verified the equivalent iPhone guidance for this page. Guideline 2.5.4 itself doesn't name a platform. This page is general guidance, not legal advice.