I am analyzing phonegap usage for 4 mobile apps which will be created for
- iOS (iPhone & iPad 4.2.1+)
- Android (2.2+)
- Blackberry(5.0+)
- Windows phone (7+)
I could not find native support for push notifications in phonegap. Though I could google for push notification support for iOS and Android using different frameworks like pushwoosh and urban air.
Is there a common framework which can address push notifications for all the above mentioned platforms?
By now, there's a Push Notification Plugin for Cordova/Phonegap available: Cordova Push Notifications Plugin.
It currently supports Android, iOS and Windows Phone 8.
I know that it is still not the common framework you wished for, but at least it accommodates these 3 platforms, which means you don't have to deal with separate plugins for each of these platforms anymore, as it's been the case before.
There is no native support in phonegap for push notifications. Since these vary by platform, there are plugins, though.
You'll have to find a plugin for each platform you want. Here's a plugin for Android: https://github.com/marknutter/GCM-Cordova
and here's one for iOS: https://github.com/phonegap/phonegap-plugins/tree/master/iOS/PushNotification I didn't find plugins for Windows7 or Blackberry, but all I did was a cursory search.
As mentioned above, there are services that provide some level of cross platform compatibility and provide server side APIs, so that you can send push to devices via a REST call (or something similar). These services also may provide some level of phonegap integration (via plugins).
Here are the services I have found that support the 4 platforms you mentioned:
- Urban Airship: http://urbanairship.com/
- Pushwoosh: http://pushwoosh.com/
- Xtify: http://xtify.com/ (now an ibm company, here's the platforms they support: http://developer.xtify.com/display/sdk/Download+the+IBM+Push+Notification+SDKs )
I would use the Urban Airship plugins for Android and iOS.
http://urbanairship.com/lp/urban-airship-phonegap-plugins/
As an alternative to push notifications you may keep a streaming connection open and receive your notifications there.
Obviously it is required that the application is kept alive for you to receive such messages.
If you think this is a viable solution for your needs you may try Lightstreamer: it works with PhoneGap on the cited platforms without the need of any plugin.
If interested take a look here: http://blog.lightstreamer.com/2012/08/lightstreamer-in-phonegap-app.html
[disclaimer: I'm a developer @ Lightstreamer]