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Apple Push Service Protocol

iOS5/OS X 10.7

Starting from iOS5, iOS devices use a new push protocol. Besides iOS devices, Mac computers also use this push protocol to connect to Apple, e.g. for automated iTunes downloads or iCloud changes.

While the old iOS 4.x protocol uses message types 00 to 06, the new protocol uses message types 07 to 0d. The new protocol is more structured, i.e. all commands and fields have the following type-length-value encoding.

Message Structure

  • 1-byte message type
  • 4-byte payload length
  • fields (any number of occurences, also multiple per type)
    • 1-byte field type - meaning depends on message type
    • 2-byte length of field value
    • field value

Example Message

Example Connect message

  • 07 message type
  • 00 00 00 27 payload length: 39 byte
  • 01 field
    • 00 20 value length: 32 byte
    • 8b 88 72 36 9f 73 48 77 98 2d 39 f3 e2 5a 58 f5 45 9f de ba 8f 91 40 7e 87 0c 65 46 fe 20 f1 b1 value
  • 02 field 00 01 value length: 1 byte 01 value

Messages

07 Connect

  • Device -> Server
  • 07 message type
  • fields
    • 01: push token(optional)
      • 32-byte push token
      • at least once the server closed the connection upon receiving a message containing a push token and sending a 08 response
    • 02: unknown
      • value: 01
  • begin of conversation

08 Connect Response

  • Server -> Device
  • 08 message type
  • fields
    • 01: status
      • observed values:
        • 00: ok
        • 02: some error, happened when device sent push token in Connect message, server closed connection after this message with this status
    • 04: unknown
      • value: 10 00
    • 05: unknown
      • data: 00 02
    • 03: push token (optional)
      • 32-byte push token
      • actually sent after 05 field
  • answer to Connect message, first data from server

09 Push Topics

  • Device -> Server
  • 09 message type
  • fields
    • 02: enabled topic(repeated)
      • 20-byte id
      • e.g. topic for an push-enabled app or a specific iCloud service like Find My iPhone
    • 03: disabled topic(repeated)
      • 20-byte id like field 02
      • not sure what disabled means and why disabled topics are sent to the server anyway
  • sent to server several times in one session, first time directly after Connect Response

0a Push Notification

  • Server -> Device
  • iMessage: also Device -> Server
    • possibly also for other services, e.g. Find My Friends
  • 0a message type
  • fields
    • 01: recipient push token
      • push token like in Connect/Connect Response in case of app push notifications
      • iMessage topic in case of iMessage originating from Device
    • 02: topic
      • see Push Topics message
    • 03: payload
      • notification payload, e.g.
        • app notification: JSON, see Apple Developer Docs
        • iMessage: binary plist
    • 04: response token
      • probably some unique id per notification to confirm delivery
      • returned in Push Notification Response message
    • 05: expires
      • 32-bit UNIX timestamp
      • probably expiration time
    • 06 timestamp
      • 64-bit UNIX timestamp in nanoseconds
      • time when the notification was sent
      • divide by 10^9 to get standard UNIX timestamp in seconds (might result in decimal places)
    • 07: unknown
      • observed value: 00

0b Push Notification Response

  • Server -> Device
  • iMessage: also Device -> Server, see Push Notification
  • 08 message type
  • fields
    • 04 response token
      • same as in Push Notification this message responds to
    • 08 status?
      • observed values
        • 00: ok
        • 02: error?

0c Keep-Alive

  • Device -> Server
  • 0c message type
  • fields
    • 01: connection method
      • e.g. "WiFi", "31038" for AT&T
      • WiFi/Numeric GSM Mobile Operator Code/Mobile Networc Code(MNC)
    • 02: iOS version
      • e.g. "5.0"
    • 03: iOS build number
      • e.g. "9A5220p"
    • 04: device model
      • e.g. "iPhone2,1"
    • 05: unknown
      • e.g. values like 10, 15 or 20
  • keep-alive message, sent every 15-20 minutes

0d Command - keep-alive confirmation

  • Server -> Device
  • 0d message type
  • fields
    • none observed
  • answer to Keep-Alive message, confirms keep-alive

0e Command - NoStorage

  • Server -> Device
  • 0e message type
  • fields
    • destination: push token as in Connect and Connect Response messages
  • Note: Appeared in 10.8, unknown purpose

0f Command - Flush

  • Server -> Device and Device -> Server
  • 0f message type
  • fields
    • flushWantPadding: 2-byte integer indicating length of padding or length padding requested for response
    • padding: NULL-bytes, typical lengths: 64, 128, 256, 512 bytes
  • first observed with iOS 6.1, device response only seen via cellular (iOS 6.0 not tested)
  • often 3 or 4 consecutive messages from the server, each with increasing padding length

Note

Mac OS X' push notification is slightly more complicated since it supports multiple users. For example the device sends multiple Connect messages, one for the system and one for each user, each with a different push token. This needs to be analyzed further.