What is an API?

Acting as a bridge, an API defines the methods and data formats that client apps can use to request and exchange data or perform functions over a well-defined digital interface.

APIs play a critical role in creating the data-rich experience we’ve come to expect from apps and computers. Here are a few everyday examples of APIs in action:

• Weather updates: Say you’re using the Apple Weather app to see tomorrow’s forecast. The app uses an API to request the latest weather data from a 3rd-party weather database like The National Weather Service, then deliver it seamlessly to your phone.

• In-app messaging: Developers use chat APIs to add chat and messaging functionalities to mobile apps. The API specifies how to integrate messaging features, and provides a pathway for conversation data to be received, stored, and managed by a business’s app and backend systems. In other words, the API offers a ready-made solution to chat features and infrastructure that would otherwise need to be built from scratch.

APIs have transformed how developers create apps and how businesses operate. They create interoperability within and across organizations, facilitating the seamless exchange of data and services across different systems. This allows organizations to efficiently solve common business problems while saving time and development resources. 

Benefits of APIs for businesses 

• Faster time to market: APIs are pre-built by providers to simplify and accelerate the app development process, allowing businesses to quickly integrate new features, functionalities, and services into apps without the investment of coding from scratch.

• Easy integration: APIs enable seamless integration between computer systems and services, promoting interoperability and creating a cohesive digital ecosystem.

• Improved customer experience: APIs allow businesses to provide users with personalized experiences that pull in services and data from third-party sources to create a consistent, feature-rich, real-time experience that drives engagement and loyalty.

• Enhanced innovation and flexibility: APIs enable businesses to experiment with new features and services without disrupting the architecture of their core application.

• Cost-efficiency: APIs offer ready-made solutions to common problems, saving businesses the time and resources required to build new functionalities from scratch.

• Scalability: APIs are built to handle growing user bases and data loads, allowing businesses to ramp into large-scale usage and grow rapidly without making costly adjustments to their core architecture.

How are APIs used?

APIs are created to serve a range of use cases and can be customized to further increase their functionality. In the example of a chat API, the API would include functionality such as content moderation, rich media, translation, analytics, live streaming, and more.

APIs serve the following functions:

• Data retrieval: APIs allow apps to retrieve data from backend systems and external sources — databases, web services, software systems — for use in apps, mobile devices, and IoT devices. This allows applications to access and use data from outside sources without interacting directly with the complicated structures of underlying systems.

• Functionality access: APIs enable apps to access specific functions and features of other software systems. For example, the Sendbird Chat API allows a business to easily integrate features like in-app chat, push notifications, authentication, and more into their mobile applications.

• Integration: APIs simplify how developers integrate new app components into existing architecture, eliminating the “heavy lift” of writing new code. This enables different apps or systems to connect and work together seamlessly. Developers follow API documentation to ensure their app communicates and exchanges data with other systems seamlessly and without errors.

• Automation: APIs enable developers to automate processes or tasks by interacting with other software systems. For example, APIs can be used to programmatically post to social media, process payments, or perform other actions without manual action.

An API is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It offers a service to other computer systems and apps, providing an interface on which to share information, as well as rules and protocols that define how data and functionality can be used.