Facebook + 3.0: Push is active?

[mavis]

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For anyone who's got 3.0 beta 4 or 5 installed, a quick question.

I've been noticing that Facebook has been showing in-app notification badges instantly, without having to 'shake to refresh' or view a tab manually, like we used to have to do. Has anyone else noticed this? For example, if you're reading a private message and you get a new notification, a badge will instantly appear in the toolbar, without having to go back to the notification screen and manually check.

I'm fairly certain (99%) it wasn't like this in the past. Is this new functionality present on 2.2.1?

 

[ki2594]

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For anyone who's got 3.0 beta 4 or 5 installed, a quick question.

I've been noticing that Facebook has been showing in-app notification badges instantly, without having to 'shake to refresh' or view a tab manually, like we used to have to do. Has anyone else noticed this? For example, if you're reading a private message and you get a new notification, a badge will instantly appear in the toolbar, without having to go back to the notification screen and manually check.

I'm fairly certain (99%) it wasn't like this in the past. Is this new functionality present on 2.2.1?

i'm pretty sure i have that in my Facebook app on 2.2.1

 

[MDMac]

The app might have added that feature but this really has nothing to do with push notifications. If the app was completely closed then that would be a different story.

Apps with push notification capability won't be released until the 3.0 software is officially released to the public.

 

[mavis]

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So it doesn't count as "push" if the data is pushed to the app when the app is open?

 

[milani]

^ Basically, yes. Push, by how we're defining it, would be when notifications are pushed to the phone when you're outside the application in question.

The app might have added that feature but this really has nothing to do with push notifications. If the app was completely closed then that would be a different story.

Apps with push notification capability won't be released until the 3.0 software is officially released to the public.

Yes, because as far as we know the scalable server architecture isn't finished, so even if you have a 3.0 beta, the Facebook app doesn't necessarily have access to Apple's push server yet (at least not for the pre-existing version of the app that we all have on our phones) - at least not until Facebook pumps out the 3.0 compatibility update.

 

[Mikey B]

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So it doesn't count as "push" if the data is pushed to the app when the app is open?

Not necessarily. Push implies the instantaneous receipt of data from one system to another. As in, I email you and that email goes to your device and alerts you of it's arrival. The alternative is when a device "fetches" email or other data from a server and displays it on your display.

When people refer to "Push Notification" for the iPhone, the push part of it is big, but it's the notification thing that makes it the most special. This way say, a Twitter app could be closed but a new direct message will show up as a notification so you can decide whether you want to act on it or not.

So, all that to say that whether the app is open or not, if the data is sent to the device from the server side of things, it is being pushed. The new functionality in 3.0 is that an app doesn't HAVE to be open for you to receive notification of a new email, tweet, IM, etc.

 

[mavis]

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So "push" works now, but what everyone is waiting for is push notification.

 

[Prissy]

Sorry for the newbieness... But what is "push"? I've been hearing so much about the next iPHone with Push..etc

 

[t0mat0]

Sorry for the newbieness... But what is "push"? I've been hearing so much about the next iPHone with Push..etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2slXe4JSEo 1min 10 in

 

[Niiro13]

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So "push" works now, but what everyone is waiting for is push notification.

Not exactly. Push itself is limited in 3.0 to only being notifications. 3.0 adds push notification, not push AND notifications. This means that when you receive an IM, the im receive sound can be pushed, the alert can be pushed, and the badge can be pushed, but the actual message won't be present on your device until you open the application and it downloads.

Push would be if you received an IM while the application is closed, turned off your internet, then went into the application, you'd see the message. Even with 3.0 this isn't true. So I guess you're correct by using quotes when saying push.

What you're looking at with facebook is an auto refresh (simply setting a timer to fetch, or a listener if that's possible...while a listener would technically be push, it only works in the application...that's like saying your monitor works now...it's true, but technically it only works when it's plugged in.)

Auto refresh works, push doesn't (not in the form that everyone knows it as), notifications are what people are waiting for. And there is a difference. Mail works as push should work (so if you get the mail notification, then turn off your internet before opening the application, you'd at least get the subject lines of the email messages). If you set the email to SMS gateway for BeeJive, then BeeJive halfway works as notifications shoudl work (minus the badge and sound). The difference is being that if you receive the BeeJive notification, turned off internet, then went into BeeJive, you wouldn't see the message...and this will continue to be true even for 3.0...you won't see any changes if you turn off the internet even after receiving the notification without the application downloading the data itself).

Correct me if I'm wrong as I am simply going on what Apple explained. I haven't had time to look at the API itself.

 

[wellgroomednerd]

To answer your question, the notifications were added in the 2.0 app update. I am currently running 2.2.1 and I get instant notifications within the app.

 

[The Californian]

Yes, I believe you misunderstand push. Like others have said push would send you notifications while the app is closed as soon as they happen. I noticed the notifications that you are describing after the last Facebook app update. I'm still on 2.2.1.

 

[Demosthenes427]

How I see it?

Screw the Facebook app. It's the biggest waste of memory space in the App Store. You can't poke, "like" messages, respond to wall posts without going through a hundred different pages, see your groups, etc...

There's nothing there worth using.

 

[mavis]

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How I see it?

Screw the Facebook app. It's the biggest waste of memory space in the App Store. You can't poke, "like" messages, respond to wall posts without going through a hundred different pages, see your groups, etc...

There's nothing there worth using.

You can quickly reply to wall posts by tapping the blue reply indicator on the right, rather than the post body. Not exactly the most intuitive system, but it works.

As for the other stuff, the only thing you mentioned that I actually miss is the Groups access. Besides a few relatively minor complaints, I think FB for iPhone is a great app. Sure beats having the use the web-based version.