iPhone Developers, Start Testing Push Notifications

Apple has sent out an email to registered iPhone developers inviting them to start testing live push notifications, using the iPhone OS 3.0 beta and iPhone SDK 3.0. In the same email, Apple also encourages developers to join the Apple Developer Forums and report any issues they uncover using the Apple Bug Reporter tool, communicating them to other developers using the Apple Push Notification service.

"Start testing your applications using the Apple Push Notification service today," reads the company's email to registered iPhone developers, according to AppleInsider. "Log in to the iPhone Dev Center and review the Apple Push Notification Programming Guide and Getting Started video," the message continues. Apple goes to explain that Team Agents can log in to the iPhone Developer Program Portal and proceed to the App ID section to perform the steps needed to enable and test applications using the Apple Push Notification service.

As the iPhone maker indicates, the Apple Push Notification service provides a way for devs to alert their users of new information, even when the application isn't running. Developers can send text notifications, trigger audible alerts, or add a numbered badge to their application icon, while the users' iPhones will be “listening” for the respective signals.

The push notifications service is an alternative to true background processes, which Apple isn't very fond of as they eat up system resources, taking their toll on the battery implicitly. Instead, Apple proposes apps that, when quitted, continue to keep their ears to the ground for any incoming notifications such as updates, and messages from the app's developer. In the case of instant messaging apps, the feature is most useful as IM clients are mainly based on incoming transmissions.