IMAP Extension XAPPLEPUSHSERVICE — Access to specific APNS Topic

This is still highly relevant and yet unanswered, as there is clear interest from the developer community, as evidenced by the numerous upvotes on this topic.

Apple, please clarify:

• Is there a registration process for implementing XAPPLEPUSHSERVICE? Or do we need „friends at Apple“ like Fastmail stated on their blog? (Seriously?)
• How can third-party providers enable push notifications for iOS Mail?

In light of the DMA, equal access is essential. A response would benefit many developers and users.

Restoring third party access to push mails is critical to ensure iOS remains an open platform with basic work tools such as mail/calendar/contacts.

Without push, emails are often received with hours of delay. At an age where we receive all sort of urgent informations via this media (OTP, signin alerts, notifications, etc), maintaining a way to push on IMAP is critical. Using third party clients is simply not an option for anyone who wants to benefit from the stock iOS mail app, which is much more polished and integrated with the OS.

I wholeheartedly second this feature request, please can an APNS engineer explicit the roadmap here and explain why this was discontinued, given it no longer required to maintain OSX Server, and only the underlaying APNS infrastructure that’s common to all apps.

We need an access to com.apple.mail APNS topic, as IMAP Idle is not an option on mobile devices.

I also believe that the latest changes have greatly affected developers who expanded the functionality of iOS devices, allowing the corporate segment to use apple devices for their employees, with the ability to use their own mail services. Please give ordinary people back the ability to use all the power of apple devices.

Access to these certs is important to my customers. If Fastmail gets an inside track, fine, tell me who I need to bribe to get a cert.

Progress Update: DMA Interoperability Request Entered Phase I

I’m pleased to share that my request has officially entered Phase I of the DMA (Digital Markets Act) interoperability process.

In the interest of transparency and collaboration, the full request is publicly accessible and can be followed here: https://developer.apple.com/file/?file=interoperability-request-tracker

I hope Apple will offer a clear and well-documented path for implementing XAPPLEPUSHSERVICE in compliance with the DMA. This would be a significant step forward for developers seeking greater interoperability in push services.

Feedback and insights from the community are welcome.

Apple please allow us to generate com.apple.mobilemail.push.com.zuplu certificates, I have used this feature for a decade and now ALL my comapny apple devices get rubbish because they can't deliver push emails anymore. You just killed all independend mail servers with support of XAPPLEPUSHSERVICE which is sucks. This will definitely decrease value of Apple devices and force more people to switch to Android systems .....

DMA request is now labeled as Closed without any update… @DragonWork can you share some more details?

Apple closed the request, saying the issue wasn’t tied to a specific functionality usable inside an app. But the DMA team at the European Commission confirmed to me that the case does in fact fall under Article 6(7) of the Digital Markets Act.

I was close to giving up, but then someone from Apple Developer Relations reached out directly to help figure something out. It looks like they might assign me a com.apple.mobilemail APNS topic ID — not sure when or if it’ll work yet.

No idea if this will turn into a general process that other devs can use. Right now it seems pretty manual and a bit obscure. But at least Apple is aware that there’s demand for this kind of interoperability, especially after the old macOS Mail Server was sunset without a real replacement.

Will see where it goes.

Final Progress Update:

I’ve been provided with a working solution!

Unfortunately, I can’t say which of my various communication attempts actually reached the right people — as I was contacted by Apple — so while I’m grateful, it’s still a bittersweet joy for me because I can‘t offer a clear guidance here.

So I hope that Apple will soon make the process easier and more accessible for the wider community as there is considerable interest now.

Congratulations! Can you share who you were in contact with or how you obtained the contact? Just so that others have more ease with doing the same.