[lacker]

The use case here is to keep it private when exactly you are receiving a message. The push API requires that the server know when data indicates a user-visible message and when it does not, and the maximally private messaging app server wouldn’t need to know that.

There is certainly a trade off between privacy and battery life here. If Apple stated that they were sacrificing a small bit of privacy for improved battery life, I would find their communications honest on this issue. Since their messaging is typically so pro-privacy, they probably have just fallen into the habit of claiming every change enhances privacy even when it isn’t.

[GeekyBear]

From my perspective, receiving an encrypted message, decrypting it, and displaying it for the user is the only thing a messaging app that is not running should be able to do.

I literally can't think of a single other thing that should happen unless and until the user opens the app, at which time the app can open an encrypted connection to the server and exchange any sorts of messages it likes.