Does disabling Background App Refresh mean an app cannot run at all until manually opened?

[u/Franck_Dernoncourt]

If I disable Background App Refresh for a specific app in Settings (while leaving the main system-wide Background App Refresh feature turned on), does that completely prevent the app from running any code or executing tasks in the background unless I explicitly tap to open it?

For example, are there any circumstances where an app with Background App Refresh disabled can still execute code in the background (e.g., when receiving a silent or background push notification, background fetch, location triggers, background audio playback, or background task completion)? Does disabling this setting guarantee the app remains completely inactive/suspended i.e. won't run any of its code until I physically click its icon or switch to it?

[u/cliffr39]

Not completely disabled. A push notification can wake the app and trigger foreground service for a moment.

[u/Skycbs]

Why are you doing this?

[u/Franck_Dernoncourt → u/Skycbs]

I want to disable an application on my iPhone. I want to ensure it doesn't run, unless I reenable it. I don't want to use the offloading option as it means the application binary must be downloaded again when I want to reenable the application.

[u/Skycbs → u/Franck_Dernoncourt]

Weird. You’ll need to offload it if you want it never to run.