Developers get first look at Apple Push Notification service on iPhone OS 3.0 beta
By Paul Miller 
posted May 18th 2009 4:50PM
posted May 18th 2009 4:50PM
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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Broccoli is like an edible little tree
I agree totally.
what about cauliflower? herpes that went terribly wrong a pe.... nevermind...
color me unimpressed by apple's push notification system.
and before anyone starts, no, this is not an adequate replacement for background processes
No ones going to disagree with you. Push notification is something it should of had for developers from the start or at least 2.0.
The average iPhone customer isn't smart enough to know how to properly run background apps. Apple knows that parents buy their 10 year olds the iPhone and Apple knows that 10 year olds don't understand the idea of memory management on devices... So before all of you trolls start talking about how great windows mobile is (when its not crashing) go blog on a site that cares
Seriously, Apple, my Razr V3xx multitasks! Oh, and it does MMS out of the box as well!
oh and the V3x has threaded messages and a touch screen and a 1/2 way decent music player... oh wait
I'm liking Mr. Andersons process of thought.
@ Mark
Proof that you're not smart enough to bring anything relevant to the table...
@ eddy
agreeing with Mark is more proof that you're to busy being a follower than to be original, YOU actually use a RAZR? wow TOOL
munir - and yet it will save on resources such as battery life and memory. Are you saying you think Apple should intentionally decrease the performance of the iPhone by allowing everything on it to run in the background? Or can you see how that might not be such a good idea?
I agree with zak; If the iPhone 3G had any worse battery life you'd have to have it plugged in all of the time.
It's funny someone calling a RAZR user a tool...
Yet the majority of iPhone owners only have them for the "cool factor"
And it's odd how almost every other smartphone can do background processes with batteries that last all day.
And they do just as much as the iPhone.
This isnt about the iPhone vs [insert your OS]
This is about how they're bullshitting....if it's been possible to do this type of stuff for this many years...
Why is it that the "Kings of Tech" cannot get this simple thing down?
I can't believe you guys are still beating that deadhorse (V3x) You might have thought it was a great phone, but really it was just a junker. Sure it had MMS and Multi-Tasking, but all the features in the world can't save a shit phone.
Let's not forget Apple has been in the mobile phone market for 2 years going on 3, Motorola has been in the Mobile Phone Market... well a long damn time, well before their shitty ass StarTac. Of course they are going to have more features and know how to implement them, it's been their job for ages, Apple's not so much.
Just like when Microsoft entered the Console arena, the First Xbox was ok, the Xbox 360 was great, and the next Xbox is going to be awesome, there is a learning curve.
The iPhone can't do everything, but what it does do, it does it perfectly, and does it in style. Unlike some of those 1 inch thick phones people are lugging around.
But the point they just had to "turn" things on...
It means it was there...
There's no learning curve for Apple...they are genius' in the art of business.
You sell them a gimped device (iPhone 2G)
Roll out an improved device...they are shocked and amazed (iPhone3G)
Then turn on those feature's that they "couldnt" add in...(3.0)
Everytime something that's "not good" gets better, they'll go and buy it.
That's beautiful business....
Brian - Maybe you're just naive and you haven't heard, but the iPhone actually has the best battery life out of all smartphones on the market currently. You want to know why people run out of battery on iPhones? Because they USE them. Did you miss the part about having a dedicated 3D graphics accelerator? I don't suppose you'd care to comment on what effect that might have on battery life, would you?
iPhones account for the vast, VAST majority of all cell data usage in the US. I mean the margin is ridiculously wide, nobody else even comes close. Know why? Because people USE their iPhones. You know, to do things that take a good amount of processor and/or GPU power. It could be that you're just a moron though, I mean my iPhone will stay charged for a good three days with moderate usage. But let me guess, you have no direct experience using an iPhone on a daily basis, am I right?
iDavey - the iPod function, the phone, Safari and Mail all run in the background on the iPhone, as does the SMS notification service obviously. Despite that, the iPhone's battery does last several days if you're only doing what other smartphones are capable of - namely, not playing Peggle or Super Monkey Ball or whatever. See the difference? The iPhone has the hardware GPU which takes a lot of juice to run. Your "other smartphones" don't have that.
Just buy a good phone instead. The iPhone is a joke.
@Zak
Uh... it had the best battery out of the then available smartphones. The new ones match or beat it with multitasking.
WINMO RULEZ!!!!
@zak blackberry curve and nokia e71 both have better call and standby times than iphone, just to mention 2.
Do any of you poor fools have any clue how complicated, expensive, and elaborate this push service is? Apple could always just deliver the same P.O.S. experience you are accustomed to and not give a damn. And "background processing" what is that really worth on that cheap-ass thoughtless handset you're using? Why is the manufacturer of that handset struggling to copy Apple?
Flamewar FTW
my Xbox360 can multitask more than the iphone
"Do any of you poor fools have any clue how complicated, expensive, and elaborate this push service is?"
And how completely unnecessary.
@Zak: No, out of 3G phones, most of the Nokia Symbian based smartphones easily outmatch the iPhone 3G in battery life. Unless you meant 'in the US', and then, sure -- maybe.
Right.
Is it? I mean right.. in a sense does it work like push is supposed to work? If Cupertine asks devlopers to report if a notification takes 48+hours to be actually pushed I get a strange feeling its actually continiously pulling instead of serverside pushing. Also how can this be client-side implented if the servers are supposed to push, which requires special software for servers which aren´t released. I seriously doubt this push (or actually pull) can be compared to the actual push RIM uses. Though this might not be much of a difference to most users it does mean a serious security hazard as 1 port gets continiously opened to home-base instead of homebase occasionally opening 1 port to send 1 mail/notification. Also ... 48 hours delay, imagine you go out and your secretary changes your day schedule, to bad you find this out 2 days later.
Nah... Apple it sounds like a nice gimmick which comes in like a swell toy but for serious business I wouldnt dare to touch your mobile as long as you dont have your act together. A mobile that doesnt sync as it should, drops calls/mails/appointments and poses as a massive security treath isnt suitable for business.
"But thats the problem, most don't seem to find them."
Proof please or I'm fling this one under 'subjective comment'.
"Are they already on the phone? Does Nokia have a good Q&A that puts 35,000 tested apps on the phone? Is there an App store that can compare. NO THERE IS NOT. Until it gets one..."
You mean Ovi which will launch with 20,000 apps in about a month? Currently you download the more popular ones from Nokia's Download! facility - which is built into the phone - or from Google or the providers themselves (Shozu, vTap, etc). These apps will sell through Ovi in future.
No offense, but for someone who professes to know a lot about Symbian and Nokia you seem to have remarkably little knowledge of how they operate.
"And I prefer an iPhone because it does what I need to. I need multitouch to pinch and squeeze on a remote desktop session,"
Really? I just use the scaling bar or double tap.
"and to right-click easily with a two finger tap."
Tap and hold does this.
"On the Nokia 5800, I can't do that. Its resistive screen doesn't allow for it."
As mentioned it does. It just does it differently.
"The consistency of even their native menus can't decide on a single or double tap..."
I agree with this.
"I suspect it is because the 5th generation (there was no 4th btw)"
There was no 4th generation because 4 is an unlucky number in Nokia's key Asian markets.
"of Nokia's S60 OS still lacks the refinement and developer guidelines which you pay for in an Apple product."
The sort of refinement which lacks a basic folder structure for your apps so you have to browse through up to 9 (or is it11?) pages to find an app you mean?
"Hackers have a hard time justifying the purchase of 'intelligence', and are clouded with more and recent hardware = better, but if the drivers don't work, its not going to fly. In the case of the Nokia 5800 however, its cheap plastic compared to the metal and glass of the iPhone is hardly a decent comparison."
Well it would be if I actually cared about that. I find the 5800 light and pocketable plus if I drop it I don't have to worry about the screen shattering.
I'm sorry but clearly you have no idea what you're talking bout here - your basic lack of understanding about Download! and the advent of the Ovi store clearly demonstrates this.
Good pic. :)
Still don't see the point. My Nokia E71 lasts three days even with several 3rd party background apps constantly running. What's the point of vetting apps if you don't stop apps doing naughty things?
why are you comparing the e71 to the iPhone?
Both smartphone, both have similar batteries. If one can handle backgrounds, why shouldn't the other?
Especially when Apple can weed out the bad eggs during the application certification process.
The E71 has a much smaller screen to power also.
Well, I have a jailbroken iPhone with background apps, and as long as you don't leave bandwidth hungry apps open all the time (All I leave is copy/paste, Categories, and occasionally a few others), there's really nothing wrong with background apps on the iPhone.
the e71 has a smaller screen smaller processor and no dedicated graphics chip... the e71 shouldn't even be in the conversation because it doesn't support Push out of the box like the iPhone does (just not turned on yet)
Yeah Aaron, sorry to have to break it to you, but the E71 is only a fraction as powerful as the iPhone. Seriously. I mean the smaller screen alone should give you a clue as to where your battery life is coming from, not to mention the lack of a dedicated hardware graphics processor.
Sorry, but you're wrong. Here's why:
Most of the time, your smartphone's screen is turned off and the CPU isn't maxed. It's idling. It's efficiency of this idle state that has the most effect on standby time.
Background apps specifically *don't* turn the screen on (hence "background") and *don't* use up all your CPU cycles. The same code running on a 330Mhz CPU (in the E71) is going to use the same amount of juice as on a 400Mhz CPU (in the iPhone), so long as it's not maxing out the CPU.
If the E71 can handle background apps, so should any smartphone with an efficient OS and a decent battery.
Have you even looked at the iPhone interface? Its graphic intensive, intuitive and beautiful. Its running I/O for multitouch, gps, not to mention its 'tilt' sensors. Its doesn't stall like WinMo because its optimized not to. The price: background apps. Its all about its software and development guidelines. Despite their well thought out and purposely restrictive API, the iPhone does (insert 1 of thousands of USEFUL app here), and does it really really well. Not 'ok', not 'so so', but GREAT.
@Steve
"Its running I/O for multitouch, gps, not to mention its 'tilt' sensors."
So what? Multitouch aside - which is just an I/O reader using differential 'touch' points as well as opposed to pressure based co-ordinate points - most other smartphones have GPS and accelerometers.
And multitasking.
@Mark Anderson
Those 'other' operating systems stall, have serious problems with poorly written third party apps that result in a poor customer experience on a scale that cannot be compared to iPhone. Check a user forum, or personally take calls with user issues for a day and you'd go insane. Until the Palm Pre comes out, you can't compare the effects of an acceleared GUI of the iPhone, multitouch, user experience, and battery life in one package. I have WinMo, I have Symbian, and they don't compare.
"Those 'other' operating systems stall"
So does Mobile OS X.
"have serious problems with poorly written third party apps that result in a poor customer experience on a scale that cannot be compared to iPhone."
So don't install them. Use the decent ones that most of seem to be able to find.
"Check a user forum"
I did. Macrumors has a good few of threads about problems with Apple's apps.
"Until the Palm Pre comes out, you can't compare the effects of an acceleared GUI of the iPhone, multitouch, user experience, and battery life in one package. I have WinMo, I have Symbian, and they don't compare."
Good for you. I prefer the 5800 because it does what I need it to. YMMV.
Oh look, Zak got pwned again. And he disappeared. How predictable.
@Mark Anderson
"So don't install them. Use the decent ones that most of seem to be able to find."
But thats the problem, most don't seem to find them. Are they already on the phone? Does Nokia have a good Q&A that puts 35,000 tested apps on the phone? Is there an App store that can compare. NO THERE IS NOT. Until it gets one...
"Good for you. I prefer the 5800 because it does what I need it to."
And I prefer an iPhone because it does what I need to. I need multitouch to pinch and squeeze on a remote desktop session, and to right-click easily with a two finger tap. On the Nokia 5800, I can't do that. Its resistive screen doesn't allow for it. The consistency of even their native menus can't decide on a single or double tap... I suspect it is because the 5th generation (there was no 4th btw) of Nokia's S60 OS still lacks the refinement and developer guidelines which you pay for in an Apple product. Hackers have a hard time justifying the purchase of 'intelligence', and are clouded with more and recent hardware = better, but if the drivers don't work, its not going to fly. In the case of the Nokia 5800 however, its cheap plastic compared to the metal and glass of the iPhone is hardly a decent comparison. The Nokia N series maybe, but then again it loses when it comes to software refinement. Palm has a chance, and Nokia too if they are willing to put everything on the line like Apple did. And in the case of Palm, it looks like they have. If Palm Pre doesn't make its dent, I'm afraid we'll have to say good bye to Palm. As a WinMo developer but iPhone user, I'm not one for less competetion in the market place. Someone has to keep Apple's product on its toes and on the cutting edge.
AWSOME!!!
let's see how "LOOK_AROUND_YOU" tries to troll about this piece of good news!
Pot kettle black.
lol. Nice telestration.
I love the picture.....hahahaha
Yeah, that picture was hysterical. I had to make my mac fanboy coworker pull it up and even she laughed.
"Pull it up"? What is this? 1997?
Its a sad commentary on our diminishing society when girls are called fanboys ;)
Son, if you had any idea how old most nomenclature is you'd shoot yourself.
WHY change the picture? The original was full of WIN
Fanbitches?
Picture made me laugh.
Better late than jacked up as some like to do...
Given what the "notifications" look like I think this will largely be unuseable. For texting this is fine, but for any application that has large volumes of messages e.g. IM, or even news this will be unuseable. Additionally, visually how do you differentiate from different sources? Does this really solve the problem of needing to run processes that do more than just display a modal dialog?
From a UI perspective you cannot make every notification a modal dialog - it's untenable. This strategy brings to mind something a kin to using Netsend for IM, but only being able to display one message at a time.
Sometimes I wonder about Apple's ability to handle user interface complexity.
hmmmh ,. Push ,?
I really don't care fir it,.
Am I the only one,?0
yep
I like how the apple troll is saying this...
Guru when push notification DOES come:
OMG., this is so superior to multitasking., much more battery efficient., especially with the sales of the iphone none others compare.?
so you only have to wait 48 hours to know if something is wrong? wow
You had to wait 48 hours to get a response... DOUCHE BAG
great pic, Paul (assuming it was you that chose it)
Push alone cannot fully satisfy the multi-tasking needs of all iPhone users, though, no matter HOW flawlessly they implement it.
For starters, they need to do away with the severe lag during closing the current app, opening the new (push notified) app.... and then having to close THAT app, and open the original app to get back to what you were doing.
When I'm browsing safari and I get a text, even if all i need to reply with is "ok", it's still a 60+ second interruption, between app loading lag, keyboard loading lag, keyboard RESPONSE lag.... and then having to re-open safari, and THEN having to reload the damn webpage because the phone lost its website cache when it loaded the SMS app!
grrrrrr.....
I agree the process is annoying, but mine doesn't take THAT long...
@ crawdad689: Get BiteSMS (in cydia). It's soooo much better than the stock SMS app. You can quick reply from no matter what you're doing, and send a txt the same way by bringing up the dialogue box with the volume down rocker. It's indispensable IMO.
That is one of the funniest pics I've seen on here in a while, Apple totally blew it's marketing load WAY too early on the push stuff.
That's a memory issue though. There just isn't enough to process all the fancy UI menus and other video-intensive features without experiencing lag.
Gosh you people are never satisfied(Munir and Templarian) . If you want background apps, Jailbreak and download Backgrounder. Push notification is actually going to be useful for people who don't have Juice Pack (airs) and actually want to have some sort of battery life. P.S. Get a life and try not to click refresh on Engadget every two seconds so you can be the first to comment on posts that you want to bitch about. Seriously get real.
But I dont get it...
People complain when you have to do "extra" for WinMo...
But when you do extra for the iPhone...there's nothing wrong???
@ iDavey,
You should change your name to iDontGetit
Just picked ip a juicepack air by the way. Awesome little gadget. Much sleeker than poweslider. I get basically 1 and one quarter full charge from it once it is fully charges
I don't get why background processing is such a big deal, AIM, YAHOO, what else?!
Pretty soon with background processing, you all going to complain about battery life.
Sure other phones have it, but they don't have iPod, Super Monkey Ball and big ass color screen.
Fool!!! what is so special about the ipod, Any phone that plays mp3 files has the same function as the ipod... wheras the sound quality of the iphone is crap compared to a dedicated mp3 player.
we weren't already complaining about battery life?
I have to say, I laughed out loud a little when I read your reply.
Seriously, read it out loud, with the emphasis that the !!!s give it. It's like a supervillan gloating over the captured hero.
I will say, the iPod app on the iPhone is one of the best mp3 player interfaces I've seen on a phone. The one on my HTC Touch Pro is crap.
HVGA sucks.. get a VGA or WVGA and then compare.. no contest really.
@ John
Your a troll that supports Windows Mobile... and you're too busy making up lies about the $30,000 dollar jobs you do for your "company"
waaaa, waaaaa, waaaaaaaaaa! i love my iphone, non-jailbroken and all, more to love with 3.0. carry your laptop if you need an office!
smartphones are supposed to be mobile offices, if i wanted just a phone I'd get a cheap-o phone.
Clearly he missed the memo that they're trying to market the iPhone as the "do it all phone"
the typical it works for me therefore it should work for everyone though process. not everyone is the same
I'm amazed that no one has mentioned this, but I can see one major issue with iPhone multitasking. There is only 4 hardware buttons on the iPhone, all of which have determined jobs. That then must lead to either the 3rd party developers integrating the means of switching, or Apple having to come up with something clever. But how? Reduce app screen size and implement some sort of dock bar? Inevitably this will just be clutter that Apple won't want to introduce. You can just tell there must have been a massive focus group to decide the best way of implementing "clever" ways to copy+paste
The iPhone already multitasks. To switch apps you hit the home button, then touch the next app you want to load. If the app you just left is a multitasking app (Mail, for example) it will continue to receive mail in the background while you're doing something else.
Zak, that's not multitasking. I like the iPhone like the rest of you but there is no need to be a dumbass when it comes to this sort of thing. Multitasking is running Pandora while talking on AIM, not the Open-Close-Open style of use.
They could use a gesture like SBsettings does on a jailbroken iphone/ipod touch... you just swipe left to right on the top status bar and there is a menu popping, it's working great in every program and I think it would be a great way to implement multitasking.
That said, am I the only one to think these notifications look extremely obtrusive?
It's up and running on mine, and apparently works because the AP is trying to send me news while I'm talking on the phone.
For those that want background processes jailbreak and download Backgrounder.
OK?
is this going to be the new spam?
While I like the idea of Push Notifications, I hate the way Apple has chosen to handle the notification UI! If you compare the notification system of the Pre's WEB OS or the Google's Android you'll see that iPhone 3.0 is miles behind.
I mean what happens if I get 20 new Twitter DMs. 3 co-workers IM me. Every tech blog I follow updates about the latest news. My calendar reminds me about that meeting coming up. And my entire FPS combat team all invite me to come join their game. Suddenly Push Notification is trying to pop up 30 text boxes all at once — while I'm in the middle of an urgent phone call?! What then Apple?!
The iPhone's notification UI needs a complete overhaul, as it is I can't see how its gonna handle multiple notifications.
Never thought of that, good point.
Apple want to create a backend system just like Blackberry with their push email so if you're applications use Push it will be hard to change phones.
Apple is being deceitful when they say this is the best way to preserve battery life - they want applications to rely on Push and the earn a regular income stream.
Apple want you to buy their phone but they want to control it.
I agree with you 100%, Economyst. Apple's reasons for not implementing 3rd party app multitasking sound like a con job to me. And, I'm pretty sure that their Push system is indeed another way for them to generate revenue and maintain total control over the iPhone ecosystem.
I have a Symbian S60 phone here (128 MB RAM/330 MHz ARM 11) and it handles 3rd party app multitasking just fine without any serious impact on battery life; unless I'm doing some comms related like 3G streaming, Wifi and GPS or heavy A/V processing like watching a high-res movie. I've had the thing loaded up with 10+ apps running in the background and it just keeps on going without breaking a sweat.
is that an engadget app i see?
Not likely. Probably just a bookmark saved to home screen.
good god people, doe's a cell phone really need to do that much stuff ? is it really necessary to be connected to the world 24/7 ?
Yes. Evolve with us or become a machine's pet.
;)
Boooo! (as to the photo change).
This is from my personal experience:
I used my HTC Tytn II for about 2 years, yeh it was a good phone. But still I moved to my iPhone. I use it every day going to college, from when I wake up till I go to sleep.
I have my iPod on for the full duration of the day, and on YouTube and Safari for the duration of the bus (around 35mins each way).
Throughout the classes, since its labs and I work on my own projects etc, the music is still constantly blaring. When a little spot of free time pops up, I would be watching an Episode of Digg Nation or a TV show or two. Then to repeat the same procedure on the Bus. Battery life by now is not too bad still. I have enough time to still keep the music playing, play some games and browse the net when I'm out taking some Photos at night or Skating.
I agree with all the Winmo users that Apple have slacked and somewhat missed the little features what winmo has, but its easily forgettable. As for push notifications. I should have been released in 2.0, really is a nice feature, but all we can do is wait and see how apple implements it to 3.0.
I think that people should realise that some apple users in here want to comment without thought of Winmo users flaming in an Apple post. If its something you are interested in then post constructive feedback. Last thing the the author of the post wants to come back and see is people trying to act "E-hard" or be the Internet tuff guy and Flamming hell out his topic.
Really if all keeps going the way it is, its will probably be worse than Digg and Youtube comments by 2010.It has became a series of Flammers and people following Flamers. Lets get back to the way of thought precessing that doesn't say " is better just because" or " Rulez/Ownez" with Z's, CAPS all over the place.
Just a thought..
wow u actually sound intelligent and I couldnt agree more with you. All the people in here bashing iphone for things. Nothing is perfect and every phone will always have something missing. All in all the iphone is the best phone out there for the majority of the people. Its easy and fun to use and watching videos, playing music, web browsing, podcast etc etc.. make it a very entertaining device. It sucks it doesnt have mms until next month but its a small price to pay and one i dont mind making in exchange for all the other features. If you dont agree and like the iphone then why come into these forums just to say stupid stuff that adds nothing to the conversation?? Is your life that pathetic? are you jealous you cant have an iphone or cant afford one?
Would have been a better idea if they did a ticker like system similar to Android. The popups are plain stupid inefficient. Ok, I said it.
agreed. If my phone is in standby, and i get more than one notification, I should be able to tap on it, and get a screen that lists them all. Tap on one, it opens the app. easy.