Two part question:
First, does the Apple TV run app activities in the background while it is asleep? I would assume this would be the case since the Apple TV isn't relying on battery.
Second, if this is not the case, how would I override this keep an app running and writing to my database?
I am building an app that connects to Bluetooth LE, then writes to a database after connecting. I would like the Apple TV to be the "hub" for my device. So as long as the Apple TV can stay awake, unlike iOS, I should be fine. I could be looking at this the wrong way. Please feel free to correct me.
tvOS runs the same application state mechanism that iOS does. Meaning it has the same old:
not running > suspended > background > inactive > active
This also means that it will do basic background processing based on very specific background tasks you specify, just like iOS. Though, tvOS does not have a background data-refresh function, which I'd imagine you'd want to use for the scenario you described.
Check out this Apple doc for more modes. https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/General/Reference/InfoPlistKeyReference/Articles/iPhoneOSKeys.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40009252-SW22
To specifically, answer the question: There may be a way to do some background data work, but it would be very limited; And you can prevent sleep programmatically by doing:
[UIApplication sharedApplication].idleTimerDisabled = YES;
This apple doc will give you all you need to accomplish this. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uiapplication