Push notifications from Facebook

While waiting for version 3.1 of Facebook’s iPhone app, I’ve tried two methods of receiving push notifications from Facebook. The easiest method is with Boxcar, which is now free thanks to the recent change allowing in-app purchases from free apps. However, Boxcar notifications from Facebook don’t show much detail.. only that so-and-so has commented on so-and-so’s status.

The slightly more involved method that I prefer and am currently using relies on Prowl, the Growl client for iPhone. If you haven’t heard of Growl it’s basically a customizable notification system for Mac OS that will display notifications from any application that supports the protocol. Prowl on your iPhone displays Growl notifications that have been forwarded from your home machine. This means that if you have a server or home theater machine that you always leave running, you can install Growl and the Facebook Desktop Notifications app that I blogged about earlier and receive the complete notifications on your iPhone. With this method the push notification you receive will say “so-and-so has commented on so-and-so’s status: blah blah blah,” saving you the time of having to load the Facebook app just to read the update. The only caveat is that you must have a machine at home that you always leave running. Oh and don’t forget to go into the Growl system pref and set the Facebook Notifications app display style to “Prowl.”


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