Apple pulls Push Notification Service support in latest iPhone Firmware Beta

Davey Winder
Sunday, 17 August 2008 19:26

Your IT - Mobility

The iPhone Firmware saga continues as Apple seeds 2.1 Beta 4 to developers. This time the big talking point would seem to be not what has been added but what Apple has taken away...

The seeding of a new Apple iPhone Firmware Beta to developers is always big news. Simply because the Apple iPhone is itself such big news right now.

But Apple could hardly have done anything more likely to ensure the headlines and rumour mills continue churning than it has with this latest seeding. Along with the usual 'bug fixing' updates, Apple has thrown a huge spanner in the Firmware works by removing the Push Notification Service support.

As we reported back at the end of July, the Apple 2.1 Beta Firmware seed added an early implementation of the Apple Push Notification Service API.

This was greeted by developers with anticipation as it allowed them to start working on those pet projects that could take advantage of the functionality.

The Push Notification Service was first brought to the attention of industry listeners a month earlier, at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. Back then it explained how it would keep a persistent IP connection to the iPhone to forward third-party server notifications.

That way, applications did not need to be left running in the background, slurping up precious battery life, but instead the server would push the event to the iPhone.

No wonder developers were happy, and most end users who heard and understood the proposed functionality likewise.

Yes, there was some 'to be expected' shuffling of feet from the usual suspects in the Big Brother corner. But on the whole it was seen as a move in the right direction as far as adding yet more functionality to the iPhone was concerned.

Which is why it has come as such a surprise that Apple has pulled the Push Notification Service supposedly to allow 'further development' according to well placed sources.

Where this leaves the promised September delivery date for Push Notification Service functionality is now open to question. I suspect there will be plenty of answers, and guesses, whizzing around the Apple blogosphere during the coming week!