It has been a long time coming, but Apple is now issuing approvals for the first iPhone apps to make use of the new push notification feature developed especially for iPhone OS 3.0.

The rest of the business-oriented smartphone systems, such as Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows Mobile, and webOS, already had this feature, and it was a sore spot that Apple invested a lot of effort in healing. Their new system works in a way that allows the same push notification functionality of the others without putting a big strain on the battery life of the phone, the big drawback of most such systems. Apple uses a background messenger app that is always ready to accept such notifications and distribute them to waiting apps. It is a much more elegant solution than is normal.

The system has gained the admiration of several experts in the field, according to an Information Week story. As an example, Michael Gartenberg, VP of strategy and analysis at Interpret, said, “It’s always a balancing act between preserving system resources and batteries, and most users aren’t looking for 3-D processing in the background on a phone. For now, this is about as good of a compromise as you’re going to get.”

Reportedly, one of the first push-enabled apps to get approval is Beejive IM 3.0, which supports multiple IM protocols, along with the AIM IM app. Approvals have been slow, perhaps as a result of minor problems with the feedback component of the push system. Many other push-enabled apps are in the App Store approval pipeline, ranging from personal and pleasure apps to the business apps that push makes possible.

Push notification is one of the final barriers between the iPhone and the business smartphone marketplace. Along with cut and paste and security issues, it was seen as one of the major barriers to iPhone success in the corporate world. With these barriers either down or coming down fast, the iPhone is a yet more impressive entry across the entire smartphone marketplace.

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 4:21 pm under Commercial Software, News, iPhone.  Print This Post

Read more entries by Michael W. Jones.
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