Apple Push Notification service provides a way to alert users about new information, even when your app is not actively running. Using this service, you can push text notifications, add a badge to your app icon, or trigger audible alerts on user devices at any time. These messages let users know that they should open your app to receive the related information. In iOS 7, you can even push silent notifications to let your app know that new content is available to download.
From a design standpoint, there are two parts to making push notifications work for iOS apps. First, the app must request the delivery of notifications and process the notification data once it is delivered. Second, you need to provide a server-side process to generate the notifications in the first place. This process lives on your own local server and works with Apple Push Notification Service to trigger the notifications.