"PushKit is the only way to do e2e encrypted messaging in iOS. If they take that away, they're disabling the ability for messaging apps to function with e2e encryption. I don't see how Apple can frame that as "enhancing user privacy and security?" "
https://twitter.com/moxie/status/1158852855291269120 So it's not only about being able to answer calls quickly.
>A UNNotificationServiceExtension object provides the entry point for a Notification Service app extension, which lets you customize the content of a remote notification before it is delivered to the user. A Notification Service app extension doesn't present any UI of its own. Instead, it is launched on demand when a notification of the appropriate type is delivered to the user’s device. You use this extension to modify the notification’s content or download content related to the extension. For example, you could use the extension to decrypt an encrypted data block or to download images associated with the notification.
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/usernotifications/...
This could include responding to a message retry request, uploading new keys, handling receipts, etc.
The only thing I can think of, is notifications maybe not being encrypted? But that seems like a bit of stretch to say you can't do E2EE messaging.
From what I understood: with PushKit, it's possible to send a signal notification to the app. The app then fetches and decrypts new messages and generates appropriate notifications locally.
This is also possible to do with regular (silent) Push Notifications. The key difference seems to be that they are low priority and might not be delivered (thus no notification will be generated), and with PushKit it would.
So AFAIK this seems to be more an UX issue.
* I might be understanding something incorrectly.