Four cool ways developers could use background notifications in iPhone OS 3.0

I loaded the new AP News app onto my iPhone today and got my first third-party background notification. If you don’t know how the notifications work, it works just like a text message. The phone will make noise or vibrate and then show you on the screen a quick blurb about what application is notifying you and why.

“This is pretty cool,” I thought, “but how could developers use the notifications in a way other than New Facebook Message or 10 New Tweets?”

1. New Content Available - Since Apple has allowed developers to sell things right inside of the application that they’ve developed, why not let the app’s owner know with a background notification that new content is available? Take the app GeoDefense, throw in a notice to all of the app’s owners to tell them that there are six new levels available as an add-on for only $3. It should probably be a one-time notification since the user paid for the application and then if they finish the game or they just want more, they know that it’s waiting for the right in GeoDefense.
2. High Score Broken - Now that online leaderboards are the norm in gaming wouldn’t you want to know if another player breaks your high score? Say you’ve gotten really good at FlightControl and you finish a game you’re really proud of landing 500+ planes, having the option of a notification when someone breaks your high score or something informing you of your world rank in a particular game could be a welcomed addition to an already great game.
3. “Come Back and Use Me” - We all have those apps on our iPhones that have fallen onto that page of apps that we want to use but never get around to. Boom, here’s where a background notification can let a user know exactly what’s going on inside that app that they haven’t touched for a few days or weeks (the amount of time should be customizable, of course). A game that hasn’t been played should show a notification telling its owner that “There are only three levels left to finish before the big final level!” or an app like Instapaper could tell the user that they have a certain amount of articles that they marked to read later but haven’t touched in days. Apps should want to know “What gives, why aren’t you using me?” which could keep both free and paid apps on people’s phones for longer periods of time.
4. Scores - This one’s a no brainer for the sports apps. The user should be able to mark their favorite teams (like in MLB At Bat 2009) and have by-the-inning/quarter/half updates on how their team is doing. If the Ravens score, I want to know. If they intercept, I want to know. If the Orioles score I want to know who hit, who scored and how. This one’s simple and a must for applications in development, especially sports apps. I don’t doubt for a second that both the MLB and NBA will put these into their apps but I hope to see this feature in a variety of sports apps that come out in the coming months.

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• May 20, 2009
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