Google Cloud defines core tenets with new ‘Google Enterprise APIs’ label

Google Cloud API

The Google Cloud Platform has a reputation for instability thanks to the short lifespan of many of its APIs, but Google hopes to fix this through a new set of tenets designed to restore trust in its development process.

Having relabelled its suite of products as ‘Google Enterprise APIs,’ the tech giant plans to be more transparent with and supportive of customers.

Google summarised its new philosophy in a recent blog post as such:

“The burden is on us: Our...

28 July 2021 | API

Thousands of developers are benefiting from OS Data Hub one year after launch

Ordnance Survey has provided an update on its OS Data Hub one year after its initial launch on 1 July 2020.

OS Data Hub provides developers with the organisation’s renowned open and premium mapping data through a suite of APIs.

Charley Glynn, OS API Product Manager, said:

“For those developers that will be searching for a map API or an address API, they are more likely to land on our pages now and discover the OS Data Hub. It is a much nicer shop window...

1 July 2021 | API

APImetrics launches premium API performance monitoring service

APImetrics has launched a premium version of API.expert, a service that monitors over 2000 APIs across many vertical markets.

The service is $100 per year and enables developers to keep track of the performance from mainstream API providers such as Netflix, Slack, and Microsoft, to more specialist and smaller vendors.

David O'Neill, CEO of APImetrics, said;

“APIs have become an essential part of the tech landscape, with more and more critical and essential...

25 June 2021 | API

Google looks set to finally release the Tiles API for WearOS

Google appears to be gearing up to finally release the Tiles API for its WearOS wearable platform.

Compared to Apple’s WatchOS, developments for WearOS are so few and far between that it often feels that Google has given up.  However, it’s clear Google hasn’t fully thrown in the towel when it comes to its wearable platform.

In 2019, (yes, 2019…) Google announced ‘Tiles’ for WearOS. Tiles are essentially widgets which offer glanceable information to the...

5 January 2021 | API

Cross-platform graphics API Vulkan is now ‘ray-tracing ready’

The Khronos Group has announced that Vulkan’s SDK, tools, and drivers are now “ray-tracing ready” for developers.

Vulkan is an open-source and interoperable alternative to graphics APIs like DirectX, OpenGL, and Metal. Ray-tracing, meanwhile, is touted as the next big advancement in the visual fidelity of graphics, especially for games.

“4A Games was one of the earliest adopters of hardware-level ray-tracing by developing the first real-time raytraced global...

16 December 2020 | API

DirectX creator Engstrom dies aged 55, leaving behind a game-changing legacy

DirectX creator Eric Engstrom has sadly passed away at the age of 55, following a career which helped to shape the gaming industry as we know it.

Engstrom created the DirectX gaming APIs in 1994 – alongside Alex St. John and Craig Eisler – to simplify Windows game development and make it the stellar platform it remains today.

The APIs were originally developed for Windows 95. Game developers at the time were reporting they preferred MS-DOS for its low overhead and...

14 December 2020 | API

ConnectKit stores App Store Connect API keys and creates helpful ‘Shortcuts’

A new iOS app called ConnectKit helps developers to store their App Store Connect API keys and create ‘Shortcuts’ for helpful actions.

The app securely stores App Store Connect API keys and syncs them across devices using iCloud.

ConnectKit will guide developers through the process of generating a certificate and inputting credentials when the app is first opened.

This data is used so developers can access information across their apps via endpoints...

26 November 2020 | API

Twilio’s new tools assist with communication in a pandemic and beyond

Twilio has announced its latest batch of tools to help enterprise developers build the solutions to communicate effectively with customers during a time when it’s needed more than ever. 

The latest developer tools were announced at this year’s Twilio SIGNAL conference⁠—which itself has been forced to be held virtually for the first time due to the pandemic.

COVID-19 has disrupted all of our lives, but we’re fortunately more prepared than ever to adapt thanks...

30 September 2020 | API

State of the API 2020: Investments remain strong despite challenges

Postman’s State of the API report for 2020 suggests that investments have remained strong despite the challenging economic climate.

The report is the most comprehensive survey of the API industry—surveying a total of 13,586 developers, testers, executives, and others.

Abhinav Asthana, Co-founder and CEO of Postman, says:

“Our annual survey reveals that the API ecosystem is expanding, investments are flowing, and momentum for an API-first philosophy is...

29 September 2020 | API

Twitter launches new API, wants developers to build the good kind of bots

Twitter has released a new API which it wants developers to use to build helpful bots and more powerful third-party apps.

According to a post on the Twitter Developer Blog, the new API will no longer take “a one-size-fits-all approach” and will be “more flexible and scalable to fit your needs.”

What that means in practice is Twitter’s API now includes three access levels: the free basic level, elevated, and custom. Developers will no longer have to transfer...

13 August 2020 | API