An Application Programing Interface (API) is a specification, or interface, that allows different elements of software to more easily communicate with each other.
Developers frequently use APIs in a mobile context to hook third-party applications into the wireless capabilities of an operating system or other application. Wireless operators use them to allow for easy access to their network resources, including subscriber data, location and quality of service functions, so developers can build more robust applications.
Today, only 9 percent of all Web and 5 percent of mobile apps use APIs, according to Research and Markets, but the firm expects that to grow by 68 percent by the end of 2016 as vendors, carriers and developers invest more in APIs.
For more on APIs and the companies involved:
- Alcatel-Lucent Nurtures Its API Grove
- Alcatel-Lucent Puts Its APIs to Work
- Apigee Unleashes an API Free-for-All
- AT&T Opens DevLab Program for Developers
- Deutsche Telekom Grows an M2M Developer Garden
- Wave Goodbye to WAC
- Vodafone Leads Open Global App-Store Push
- CashFlows Offers Smartphone API
- Photos: Inside Verizon's Developer Playground
- Verizon Rallies Developers for LTE
- Sprint Opens Up More APIs
- Applications Unbound: Can Telcos Learn to Dance?
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