Can an iphone application recieve push notifications from a custom server?

Question

This is a very basic question on push notifications.

I need to know whether an iPhone application can receive push notifications. I want them to operate as follows.

User installs the application. When the application is not running, the user notices that something has changed with the application. This is indicated by the application icon changing. User opens the application and a new screen comes up that says:

"You have 3 new items to download"

The application will need to communicate with a custom server to obtain changes. The changes will only be known by that server, not the Apple App Store.

Is the above possible to program?

Answer 1

Yes. Your custom server sends them to Apple for distribution to devices. Read Apple's Push Notifications documentation for more info.