CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iphoneiospush-notificationuilocalnotification
Kasper Munck
Kasper Munck

Reputation: 4191

Offline notifications in iOS

According to the APNS Reference at Apple.com, an iOS device cannot receive notifications while it's offline / not connection to 3G or WiFi or similar. Yesterday I found an application (Pillboxie) that claims to be able to notify users even though they're offline. I quote:

"In order to use reminder technology that doesn't requre a network connection, Pillboxie will only run on devices running iOS 4.0 or later."

and

"No network connection required!"

Both quotes are copied from the App Description in the App Store.

I have not succeeded to find out how this works and whether it is as reliable as APNS. Does anyone know anything about the offline noficiation service mentioned in the quote above?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 5175

Answers (4)

Felipe Sabino
Felipe Sabino

Reputation: 18225

Pillboxie uses UILocalNotification to do that.

It is totally implemented on the app itself, without the need of a server side notification or even the internet connection.

You will not be able to use that for sending push notification, from a server to the user device, which is the one that requires the internet connection (wi-fi or 3G).

You can read more about it in Apple's Local and Push Notification Programming Guide

Upvotes: 8

jaredsinclair
jaredsinclair

Reputation: 12707

I'm the developer of Pillboxie. Felipe is correct: Pillboxie uses UILocalNotifications to schedule its reminders. I chose local notifications over push for several reasons. There are pros and cons to either kind. I chose UILocalNotification because it made more sense with the serious medical nature of Pillboxie:

LOCAL NOTIFICATIONS

  • PROS: Don't need to manage your own server to interface with the APNS. Very reliable, always on time; Works for people who don't have a network connection often (iPod Touch and iPad users); Works when traveling overseas; Automatically adjusts to the current wall-clock time in the current system time zone (if you've set a reference time zone in the time zone property in the UILocalNotification).
  • CONS: Max of 64 notifications per app; Can only repeat in whole units of either 1 minute, 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, etc. If repeating, can't set a stop date.

Upvotes: 2

Michał Zygar
Michał Zygar

Reputation: 4092

There are actually 2 types of notifications.

  • Push - generated by APNS require internet connection
  • Local - generated on device by the application

So the app you are reffering to might be using local notifications. Check docs for more

Upvotes: 1

shannoga
shannoga

Reputation: 19879

I believe they refer to local notifications and not remote notifications.

Loacl notification are stored locally in the user device. And shot by the iOS itself.

From UIlocalnotification reference:

The operating system is responsible for delivering the notification at the proper time; the application does not have to be running for this to happen. Although local notifications are similar to remote notifications in that they are used for displaying alerts, playing sounds, and badging application icons, they are composed and delivered locally and do not require connection with remote servers.

Upvotes: 3

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