diff --git a/Shared/Widget/WidgetDataEncoder.swift b/Shared/Widget/WidgetDataEncoder.swift
index 79fd87d80..b0077be69 100644
--- a/Shared/Widget/WidgetDataEncoder.swift
+++ b/Shared/Widget/WidgetDataEncoder.swift
@@ -13,17 +13,34 @@ import UIKit
 import RSCore
 import Articles
 
-@available(iOS 14, *)
-struct WidgetDataEncoder {
+
+public final class WidgetDataEncoder {
 	
-	private static var log = OSLog(subsystem: Bundle.main.bundleIdentifier!, category: "Application")
+	private let log = OSLog(subsystem: Bundle.main.bundleIdentifier!, category: "Application")
 	
-	static func encodeWidgetData(refreshTimeline: Bool = true) {
+	private var backgroundTaskID: UIBackgroundTaskIdentifier!
+	private lazy var appGroup = Bundle.main.object(forInfoDictionaryKey: "AppGroup") as! String
+	private lazy var containerURL = FileManager.default.containerURL(forSecurityApplicationGroupIdentifier: appGroup)
+	private lazy var dataURL = containerURL?.appendingPathComponent("widget-data.json")
+	
+	static let shared = WidgetDataEncoder()
+	private init () {}
+	
+	@available(iOS 14, *)
+	func encodeWidgetData(refreshTimeline: Bool = true) throws {
 		os_log(.debug, log: log, "Starting encoding widget data.")
+		
 		do {
-			// Unread Articles
-			let unreadArticles = try SmartFeedsController.shared.unreadFeed.fetchArticles().sorted(by: { $0.datePublished ?? .distantPast > $1.datePublished ?? .distantPast  })
+			let unreadArticles = Array(try SmartFeedsController.shared.unreadFeed.fetchArticles()).sortedByDate(.orderedDescending)
+			
+			let starredArticles = Array(try SmartFeedsController.shared.starredFeed.fetchArticles()).sortedByDate(.orderedDescending)
+			
+			let todayArticles = Array(try SmartFeedsController.shared.todayFeed.fetchUnreadArticles()).sortedByDate(.orderedDescending)
+			
 			var unread = [LatestArticle]()
+			var today = [LatestArticle]()
+			var starred = [LatestArticle]()
+			
 			for article in unreadArticles {
 				let latestArticle = LatestArticle(id: article.sortableArticleID,
 												  feedTitle: article.sortableName,
@@ -32,13 +49,9 @@ struct WidgetDataEncoder {
 												  feedIcon: article.iconImage()?.image.dataRepresentation(),
 												  pubDate: article.datePublished!.description)
 				unread.append(latestArticle)
-				
 				if unread.count == 7 { break }
 			}
 			
-			// Starred Articles
-			let starredArticles = try SmartFeedsController.shared.starredFeed.fetchArticles().sorted(by: { $0.datePublished  ?? .distantPast > $1.datePublished ?? .distantPast  })
-			var starred = [LatestArticle]()
 			for article in starredArticles {
 				let latestArticle = LatestArticle(id: article.sortableArticleID,
 												  feedTitle: article.sortableName,
@@ -50,9 +63,6 @@ struct WidgetDataEncoder {
 				if starred.count == 7 { break }
 			}
 			
-			// Today Articles
-			let todayArticles = try SmartFeedsController.shared.todayFeed.fetchUnreadArticles().sorted(by: { $0.datePublished ?? .distantPast > $1.datePublished  ?? .distantPast })
-			var today = [LatestArticle]()
 			for article in todayArticles {
 				let latestArticle = LatestArticle(id: article.sortableArticleID,
 												  feedTitle: article.sortableName,
@@ -72,26 +82,44 @@ struct WidgetDataEncoder {
 										todayArticles:today,
 										lastUpdateTime: Date())
 			
-			let encodedData = try JSONEncoder().encode(latestData)
-			os_log(.debug, log: log, "Finished encoding widget data.")
-			let appGroup = Bundle.main.object(forInfoDictionaryKey: "AppGroup") as! String
-			let containerURL = FileManager.default.containerURL(forSecurityApplicationGroupIdentifier: appGroup)
-			let dataURL = containerURL?.appendingPathComponent("widget-data.json")
-			if FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: dataURL!.path) {
-				try FileManager.default.removeItem(at: dataURL!)
-				os_log(.debug, log: log, "Removed widget data from container.")
-			}
-			if FileManager.default.createFile(atPath: dataURL!.path, contents: encodedData, attributes: nil) {
-				os_log(.debug, log: log, "Wrote widget data to container.")
-				if refreshTimeline == true {
-					WidgetCenter.shared.reloadAllTimelines()
+			
+			DispatchQueue.global().async { [weak self] in
+				guard let self = self else { return }
+				
+				self.backgroundTaskID = UIApplication.shared.beginBackgroundTask (withName: "com.ranchero.NetNewsWire.Encode") {
+					 UIApplication.shared.endBackgroundTask(self.backgroundTaskID!)
+					self.backgroundTaskID = .invalid
 				}
+				let encodedData = try? JSONEncoder().encode(latestData)
+				
+				os_log(.debug, log: self.log, "Finished encoding widget data.")
+				
+				if self.fileExists() {
+					try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: self.dataURL!)
+					os_log(.debug, log: self.log, "Removed widget data from container.")
+				}
+				if FileManager.default.createFile(atPath: self.dataURL!.path, contents: encodedData, attributes: nil) {
+					os_log(.debug, log: self.log, "Wrote widget data to container.")
+					if refreshTimeline == true {
+						WidgetCenter.shared.reloadAllTimelines()
+						UIApplication.shared.endBackgroundTask(self.backgroundTaskID!)
+						self.backgroundTaskID = .invalid
+					} else {
+						UIApplication.shared.endBackgroundTask(self.backgroundTaskID!)
+						self.backgroundTaskID = .invalid
+					}
+				} else {
+					UIApplication.shared.endBackgroundTask(self.backgroundTaskID!)
+					self.backgroundTaskID = .invalid
+				}
+				
 			}
-		} catch {
-			os_log(.error, "%@", error.localizedDescription)
 		}
 	}
 	
+	private func fileExists() -> Bool {
+		FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: dataURL!.path)
+	}
 	
 }
 
diff --git a/Technotes/Widgets.md b/Technotes/Widgets.md
index 628461506..3744938de 100644
--- a/Technotes/Widgets.md
+++ b/Technotes/Widgets.md
@@ -9,11 +9,10 @@ There are _currently_ seven widgets available for iOS:
 ## Widget Data
 The widget does not have access to the parent app's database. To surface data to the widget, a small amount of article data is encoded to JSON (see `WidgetDataEncoder`) and saved to the AppGroup container. 
 
-Widget data is written at three points:
+Widget data is written at two points:
 
-1. After applicationDidFinishLaunching
-2. As part of a background refresh
-3. When the scene enters the background
+1. As part of a background refresh
+2. When the scene enters the background
 
 The widget timeline is refreshed—via `WidgetCenter.shared.reloadAllTimelines()`—after each of the above.
 
diff --git a/iOS/AppDelegate.swift b/iOS/AppDelegate.swift
index 7e4cbcb17..180536ae5 100644
--- a/iOS/AppDelegate.swift
+++ b/iOS/AppDelegate.swift
@@ -115,11 +115,6 @@ class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate, UNUserNotificationCenterD
 		syncTimer!.update()
 		#endif
 		
-		if #available(iOS 14, *) {
-			WidgetDataEncoder.encodeWidgetData(refreshTimeline: false)
-		}
-		
-		
 		return true
 		
 	}
@@ -382,7 +377,7 @@ private extension AppDelegate {
 			AccountManager.shared.refreshAll(errorHandler: ErrorHandler.log) { [unowned self] in
 				if !AccountManager.shared.isSuspended {
 					if #available(iOS 14, *) {
-						WidgetDataEncoder.encodeWidgetData()
+						try? WidgetDataEncoder.shared.encodeWidgetData()
 					}
 					self.suspendApplication()
 					os_log("Account refresh operation completed.", log: self.log, type: .info)
diff --git a/iOS/SceneDelegate.swift b/iOS/SceneDelegate.swift
index 9039eec7c..a8e5401ae 100644
--- a/iOS/SceneDelegate.swift
+++ b/iOS/SceneDelegate.swift
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ class SceneDelegate: UIResponder, UIWindowSceneDelegate {
 	
 	func sceneDidEnterBackground(_ scene: UIScene) {
 		if #available(iOS 14, *) {
-			WidgetDataEncoder.encodeWidgetData()
+			try? WidgetDataEncoder.shared.encodeWidgetData()
 		}
 		ArticleStringFormatter.emptyCaches()
 		appDelegate.prepareAccountsForBackground()