The competition between iPhone social network platforms continues apace, with the current most widely used option, OpenFeint, releasing its version 2.1.
Significantly, this includes support of one for the most important features of Apple's OS 3.0 - Push Notification.
This enables players to create challenges from within games that support OpenFeint and send them directly to their friends. In turn, these friends can complete the challenge and send back new challenges, increasingly the replayability of titles.
Updates using OpenFeint 2.1 have already been submitted to the App Store for games including Pocket God, Sentinel 2, and Stick Wars.
OpenFeint handles all of the server and client plumbing required to make this interaction work including storage of gameplay data, and the delivery and receipt of push notifications, all within a newly streamlined user interface. Developers only need to choose what aspect of gameplay they want to support using the feature.
Jason Citron and Danielle Cassley of Aurora Feint, the developer of OpenFeint commented: "Our mission is simple: we always want to be at the forefront of new capabilities that can benefit our developer and user community. With OpenFeint 2.1 we are proud to lead the way into social challenge based gameplay on the iPhone."
OpenFeint 2.1 includes better a offline experience so high scores and achievements are uploaded whenever the device next connects to the internet.
The user interface has been improved too, allowing more ways to discover new content. For example, receiving a social challenge for a game you don't own, provides an easy way to discover and purchase new content.
OpenFeint 2.1 also allows you to make friends directly in the application, increasing the viral nature your game's social network.
OpenFeint 2.1 is now publicly available via the official website for all game developers.
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A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
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