iPhone Push Notification API released to select developers
CrunchGear notes that a version of the iPhone Push Notification Service API has been released to "a handful" of developers, and, according to them, will "surely" be released to everyone when iPhone OS 2.1 is released.
If you remember our WWDC keynote coverage (around 11:05 a.m.), the Push Notification Service maintains a connection with third party servers to alert you via an icon badge, custom sounds, or text alerts.
An app that uses this feature isn't really running in the background, but instead sort of registering itself with a metaphorical "hotel operator" that lives in your phone. Once there's something new to tell you, the hotel operator notifies you.
Hopefully this has little effect on battery life, but without actual, real-world use, it's hard to say.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ben said 2:41PM on 7-31-2008
First?
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Jeff said 2:59PM on 7-31-2008
ass.
DJCarbon43 said 3:02PM on 7-31-2008
No. Fail.
Back on the story, It would be nice if Apple allowed developers to use different badges, that red one gets old after a while.
e_hixson said 2:43PM on 7-31-2008
I'd imagine the battery life will be equivalent to what we get now when push notification for MobileMe is turned on.
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Jeff said 2:58PM on 7-31-2008
my thought exactly.
robby3ring said 3:07PM on 7-31-2008
So to rephrase what you're saying, the hotel operator would not only be watching for your mail but also notes and flowers and such. You don't have to pay for any more hotel operators so there is no decrease in battery life. Right?
Did I travel too deep into that metaphor?
Robert Palmer said 3:08PM on 7-31-2008
@robby3ring No, you got it pretty much dead on there, I think. :)
e_hixson said 3:15PM on 7-31-2008
Anecdotally I've noticed that with push turned OFF my battery last all day vs turned ON I only manage about 1/2 a day. Not sure how "push" is "listening" for updates but why can't it be more battery friendly like SMS is - isn't the concept the same? Of course there is probably some divergence between the concept and conception here that I'm obviously ignorant of.
DistortedLoop said 5:26PM on 7-31-2008
I haven't tried turning it off yet. Does PUSH really impact battery life that much?
Has anyone tested this under controlled conditions to give fact based, rather than feels like based, guidelines on the impact of push on the battery?
unlikelee said 9:56PM on 7-31-2008
yes, with email set to "push"...battery life drains far more quickly than with email set to "fetch". So you have a choice to make, can you handle 15 mins in between checks? and thus having a battery that lasts all day, including being able to listen to music, and play around to your hearts content. Or setting to "push" and getting at most 8hrs of battery time, with very little use of the phone and its functions. There is also the manual update for email, go into your email and refresh manually and it will check the servers however many times you choose to refresh. Come to think of it, if it was really that important, someone would call me "ChECK YOUR email Right nOW!" ...I dont think there is a real need for push, since you can check whenever you like, and 15 mins...is just that. 15 mins...unless of course you are so anal retentive in your life and need sh#te right now.
jim said 2:43PM on 7-31-2008
actually your phone isn't connected to third party servers. It's connected to Apple's server, which is connected to the third party servers.
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Daniel said 2:50PM on 7-31-2008
This will make AIM actually useful.
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Keith McDuffee said 3:03PM on 7-31-2008
This is likely why Adium and any other IM clients are waiting to be released.
What other apps would be nice to have pushed data to? New events? New map locations? Twitter?
Mikooster said 3:11PM on 7-31-2008
Actually, the Adium team has stated they are not doing an iPhone project yet because the NDA prevents it from being open source.
Andune said 3:21PM on 7-31-2008
There are other reasons too Mikooster, since Adium is still mostly based on things from Tiger they have to rewrite most of it to fit the Leopard (and iPhone) style.
"So porting Adium to the iPhone will certainly be a lot of work. Large portions, if not almost everything, will need to be completely rewritten or scrapped. Therefore, it's likely that we won't start work on Adium for iPhone until sometime after Adium for Mac requires Leopard."
d said 3:24PM on 7-31-2008
It would make Adium iPhone pretty sweet.
Just as you can select, by event, what notifications show up (sound, dock bounce, etc.) the same can apply to Adium Touch. What if you could have 2 counters on the icon in different locations, maybe even with different backgrounds, showing contacts online and new messages?
Of course, this would all require the Adium team to develop Adium Mobile.
Lepton said 3:09PM on 7-31-2008
I believe this will have zero effect on battery life for those who have push EMail going, such as MobileMe. The same mechanism that pushes mail will push these notifications. No matter how many apps are using the service, it will not put added strain on the device. Once one notification service is going, added ones have no additional overhead. That's the beauty of it! So run Mail, Twitter, AIM, games, whatever!
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Galley said 3:14PM on 7-31-2008
Ooh, I've got one new calculation waiting for me in Calculator!
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Sean Flanagan said 4:11PM on 7-31-2008
I hope it isn't anything divided by zero...
Alan said 5:01PM on 7-31-2008
@ Sean Flanagan-I love you