14 DAY TRIAL // With September come and gone, Apple has missed one of its self-imposed deadlines, in releasing a software update for the iPhone OS to include a formerly-removed “push notification” system. Mac-based publications are now tracing the events back to Apple's WWDC, where the company's SVP of iPhone software took the stage to discuss the lacking feature.
Apple's WWDC, taking place earlier this year, saw Apple's Scott Forstall explaining to the press why the company had decided not to include background-running apps, in favor of battery life. To the developers' discontent, Apple would instead release a push notification system that apps like IM clients, which heavily rely on this feature, could use to alert users when remote content had changed. Apple discovered that such a system would drastically reduce impact on the iPhone's battery, while notifications would run over one persistent connection. Apple promised to roll out the push notification system in September 2008. As it turns out, the feature is nowhere to be found, despite the release of a major software update last month – iPhone software 2.1.
Reportedly, indication that the push notification feature was heading back to the iPhone was disclosed in a purported e-mail from Steve Jobs, who said that Apple was a bit late with the feature, but that he wanted it 100 percent right from the get-go. Guess it's iPhone OS 2.2.
At this point, it is worth noting that Apple has released iPhone software 2.2 as a beta to developers last week, along with a new version of the iPhone SDK. Recent iPhone OS reports are suggesting that the company is finally restoring the iPhone's capabilities to push e-mail in the background. iPhone 2.2 is also said to improve the phone's GPS functionality.
It is believed that Apple's missing its own deadline is strongly connected to the MobileMe service, which has had a rocky start to say the least, as well as to the issues surrounding the App Store and other iPhone firmware problems. Since the company has to have its priorities, we are left to understand that the background notification system was not of the utmost importance, at least until this point.