OSNews

I can't help but be of two minds on this issue. For one, while I get along fine with Push notification for stuff like instant messaging, I agree that it is not sufficient in situations such as voip where you need to take a call within 30 seconds or so. However, my experience with Windows Mobile devices has shown me exactly how bad a lot of background services running can be, both in memory consumption and in a very quickly drained battery. I think some sort of compromise needs to happen here, perhaps approved background services could run and be under the user's control when needed (look at WM where the user has no control over services except with registry hacks or 3rd party tools). I know a lot of people don't like the idea of approved apps and consequently won't like the idea of approved services, but I don't see any other way that won't turn the iPod Touch and iPhone into a mess. Of course, before Apple could be trusted with this, they need to start consistently applying the same rules to all apps submitted. Requiring apps to be approved isn't what hacks me off, it's the illogic of some of the decisions involved.