Why do I have to open the app to backup my photos?
To improve battery life on your phone, iOS limits the amount of background time for each app. Unfortunately we cannot override Apple's rules. We will try to upload your photos as fast as we can when the app receives background time, but you likely have to open the app every now and then to continue the uploading.
We recommend that you have the phone connected to wifi and power and keep the app open during your initial upload of photos.
How does it work?
We get 30 seconds of runtime in the background before the app is put to sleep after you close the app.
Don't force kill the app, then we get no background time.
iOS will give the app background time (10-30s) every now and then based on the amount of time you use the app, if you are connected to WIFI, charging, etc.
The only ones who knows the exact rules for when and how long, are Apple.
If you have a larger batch of photos/videos that you want to upload we always recommend that you keep the app open.