With Apple's WWDC just weeks away and the imminent release of the iPhone 3.0 software to the public, Apple has begun to roll out testing of push notifications by developers.

An email was sent out to developers asking them to participate in beta testing of the new push notification service with a finely tuned, pre-release version of the Associated Press news app that would create a high number of background push requests.

Once this AP app is downloaded via a special promo code given to developers, a new setting will be added in Settings.app labeled "Notifications", where the user will have control over all apps capable of push notifications (screenshots below provided by MobileCrunch).

The body of the email reads:

As a developer actively working with iPhone OS 3.0 beta, we would like your help in testing the Apple Push Notification service. We have selected a pre-release version of the Associated Press app for iPhone OS 3.0 to create a high-volume test environment for our servers.

To participate, we ask that you follow these steps:

Download the pre-release version of the Associated Press app for iPhone OS 3.0 from the iTunes Store via your desktop by entering this unique redemption code in the ‘Redeem’ section of iTunes, found under the ‘Quick Links’ section: [redacted] This unique redemption code and the functionality of the application will expire in seven days.

Install the application on a development device running iPhone OS 3.0 beta 5 by synching it to iTunes. Make sure to accept notifications when prompted after installation. This application can only be installed on devices running iPhone OS 3.0 beta 5.

When you first run the app, choose U.S. English as your region when prompted. The U.S. English region will receive alerts, the Canadian English region will not. For purposes of the test, AP will be sending a high-volume of real news alerts.

If you do not receive notifications from the app within 48 hours after installation, let us know.

We appreciate your assistance,

iPhone Developer Program

So with the ability to control what apps will provide push notices to you, it seems that we'll have a lot of control to prevent being spammed with annoying notifications (Twitter could fall under this), and still get useful and important notices (such as the AP news).

We can't wait until this goes public, since this feature has been long overdue.

UPDATE 5/19: Thanks to reader soxboston! Seems the iPod Touch won't display the notification settings in the Settings pane, so iPod Touch users may not have total control over the push notification settings. But this may be because of the lack of an always on connection like the iPhone.

 

Via MobileCrunch