> Without an application what is the difference between a notification and a text message/iMessage?
SMS isn't secure and I can't send an iMessage from the command line. Push notification is the only way to get a message securely to my phone.
> I can see spammers creating schemes to obtain peoples notification URL/address and bombarding them with multimedia popup ads with no ability for the user to block them.
I addressed this in a sibling comment -- it would still go through Apple's servers and there is a lot they can do to mitigate that.
> Tying notifications to apps at least means that there is some audit trail and ability for users to stop receiving notifications and ultimately for the developer/sender to be removed entirely.
If apple ran the service, they would have all the same paper trails and mitigations.
SMS isn't secure and I can't send an iMessage from the command line. Push notification is the only way to get a message securely to my phone.
> I can see spammers creating schemes to obtain peoples notification URL/address and bombarding them with multimedia popup ads with no ability for the user to block them.
I addressed this in a sibling comment -- it would still go through Apple's servers and there is a lot they can do to mitigate that.
> Tying notifications to apps at least means that there is some audit trail and ability for users to stop receiving notifications and ultimately for the developer/sender to be removed entirely.
If apple ran the service, they would have all the same paper trails and mitigations.