One of the new features of the iPhone 3.0 operating system update is Push Notifications, which allow programs to notify users of updates within the application even when the user is not running it. I was excited to learn that IM+, the instant messaging program that I use, just had an update to take advantage of Push. IM+ recently add a pretty weaksauce web browsing component to the application (no doubt watering down the browser on purpose so Apple’s App Store approval chimps team wouldn’t block it), which allowed users to look at links and do a little internet browsing while still promptly receiving notifications on new messages. Now we can use Safari and still get our notices in real time.
One of my favorite applications of Push with instant messaging is coupling it with Aardvark, a service which users can use to ask and answer questions via an instant messaging client. Push makes it that much more powerful of a mobile tool – if you ask Aardvark, for example, what sort of strings you should buy for your Telecaster guitar, you can tuck your phone back into your pocket and check out the rest of the stuff in the store while waiting for a response, with no feeling like your eyes need to be glued to a screen. It’s pretty nifty.
