Yesterday, Apple began letting developers test the new “push” notification features of the iPhone’s new 3.0 operating system, a feature long awaited on the Apple mobile platform.

The Apple Push Notification Service is a mobile service created by Apple Inc. that is slated for release with iPhone OS 3.0 in June or July of 2009. It uses push technology through a constantly-open IP connection to forward notifications from the servers of third party applications to the iPhone or iPod touch; such notifications may include badges, sounds or custom text alerts.

The company notified developers of the availability of the new testing environment via email set to all registered iPhone / Touch app developers. The email said, in part, “Start testing your applications using the Apple Push Notification service today. Log in to the iPhone Dev Center and review the Apple Push Notification Programming Guide and Getting Started video.”

The Apple email went on to explain that developers could log in to the iPhone Developer Program Portal, then proceed to the App ID section of the site to register so that developers could enable and test applications using the new service, according to an Apple Insider story. This is one of the hottest new OS features, long requested by iPhone and Touch users.

Apple has been reluctant to include push notifications on the iPhone because such functions usually require processes that run in the background for individual applications which need them. That sort of “push” technology is very system service intensive, and would quickly chew up OS resources and rapidly drain the mobile device’s battery. They needed to find a better way.

That better way is their new push notification service. Instead of requiring that applications be kept running, this service allow apps to quit running, but still retain the ability to listen for incoming alerts for applications on what is called a universal network channel. This service listens for incoming alerts on a single channel and then distributes alerts and messages to the proper applications for processing.

The new system allows the iPhone and Touch to perform the desired function without expending the system resources usually required for such operating system services. Apple push notification has been in development for over a year, and will open up both Apple mobile platforms to applications which require them, such as instant messaging, app user alerts, social media connections, etc. The lack of such a system has always been seen as a failing of the iPhone. The new system will put a stop to those complaints and bring the iPhone one step closer to being a “professional” mobile device.

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Entry was posted on Friday, April 10th, 2009 at 2:47 pm under Commercial Software, Internet, iPhone, iPod Touch.  Print This Post

Read more entries by Michael W. Jones.
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