Limitations
Current limitations and known constraints
Current Limitations
This page covers known limitations and constraints in Alethia.
Background Chapter Sync
Alethia cannot reliably sync new chapters while the app is in the background. This is a limitation imposed by iOS, not Alethia.
iOS strictly limits what apps can do in the background to preserve battery life and system resources. Background App Refresh is unreliable and not guaranteed to run at any specific interval — Apple determines when (or if) it executes based on your usage patterns.
Workaround
Open the app periodically to refresh your library. Pull down on the library screen to manually trigger a sync.
Background Chapter Downloads
Similarly, downloading chapters for offline reading cannot continue reliably when Alethia is in the background or the device is locked.
iOS suspends apps shortly after they leave the foreground, pausing any active downloads. While iOS provides background download APIs, they are designed for small, infrequent transfers and don't suit the bulk downloading of chapter images.
Batching functionality works to an extent due to this, and without going technical, Alethia attempts to download as many chapters as possible in one session before iOS suspends it. However, if the app is backgrounded or the device locks, ongoing downloads may pause and not resume until the app is reopened.
Workaround
Keep the app open and your device unlocked while downloading chapters. Consider downloading over WiFi when you have time to leave the app active.
Why Can't This Be Fixed?
These are long-standing iOS platform limitations that affect all apps, not just Alethia. Apple prioritizes battery life and user privacy over background processing. Readers on Android don't face these restrictions because Android allows more permissive background execution.
Some investigation on a new iOS26 API for background tasks has been explored but does not fulfill the use-case of continuous background syncing or downloading, and due to this, will be left as a pending and unimplemented feature until Apple provides more robust background processing capabilities. Additionally iOS18 will continue to remain as the minimum version supported by Alethia due to the above for the foreseeable future, so a future version bump won't be considered unless a significant benefit is provided.
Ultimately there is no workaround that Alethia can implement — this would require Apple to change iOS policies.
Other Limitations
No Push Notifications for New Chapters
Alethia cannot send you push notifications when new chapters are released. Push notifications require a server to monitor sources and send alerts to your device — Alethia has no and will continue to have no server infrastructure. It operates entirely on-device.
Alternative
Check the app periodically, or use tracker services (AniList, MyAnimeList) which may offer their own notification systems.
Source Availability
Alethia depends entirely on external sources for content. If a source goes offline, changes its API, or removes content, Alethia cannot do anything about it.
- Sources may experience downtime
- Content may be removed by the source
- Sources may block certain regions or IP addresses
Workaround
Add multiple sources for important titles. If one source fails, others can fill the gap. This is the intended design of Alethia's multi-source architecture, and helps ensure continued access to content, as well as providing options for better quality and eventual redundancy due to the inevitability of content source failure.
Image Quality
Alethia displays images exactly as provided by the source. It cannot enhance, upscale, or improve image quality beyond what the source offers.
If images appear blurry or low quality, this is determined by the source, not Alethia. Some sources compress images more aggressively than others.
Workaround
Try different sources for the same title — quality can vary significantly between sources. The same point is made here, as above, it is heavily incentivized to add multiple sources for the titles you read to ensure a consistent and high-quality reading experience.
Storage Management
iOS may automatically clear Alethia's cached data when your device runs low on storage. This means downloaded chapters or cached images could be removed without warning.
Alethia has no control over this behavior — it's an iOS feature called "Offload Unused Apps" and general cache purging.
If you find a chapter download that has been completed but is failing to open, you may need to re-download it due to this issue.
Workaround
Ensure you have adequate free storage on your device, especially before downloading chapters for offline reading.