Api Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Pebble receives $15 mil in funding, releases SDK and Sports API

by Mike Schramm (May 16th, 2013)

The company behind the Pebble smartwatch, which not only looks awesome but connects up to your iPhone, has picked up US$15 million in funding from venture capitalists, and has released yet another version of its SDK. The funding is obviously a solid chunk of change, and should help Pebble not ...

Google Maps SDK lets iOS devs use Google's maps in apps

by Michael Grothaus (Dec 13th, 2012)

With the well-hyped release of the new Google Maps app came the quieter announcement that the company is also releasing a Google Maps SDK for iOS. The SDK allows app developers to prefer in-app Google Maps instead of Apple's iOS 6 maps. The SDK will also allow developers to specify in their ...

Gree closing down OpenFeint on December 14

by Mike Schramm (Nov 19th, 2012)

I believe we've now reached the end of iOS' first generation as a platform -- it's almost every week now that we're hearing about a major startup losing a founder or a big franchise shutting down. This time it's OpenFeint, the social gaming platform started up way back by Jason Citron and ...

One not-so-secret reason Apple built its own Maps for iOS 6

by Michael Rose (Sep 23rd, 2012)

In the uproar over iOS 6's move to Apple's homegrown Maps service, the driving theme is user frustration (not to say outright anger). Even the most ardent apologists have to acknowledge that Maps has serious issues, and the company's critics are having a field day. Some of the challenges may be ...

Soon apps may integrate Mention Tagging for Facebook

by Kelly Hodgkins (Aug 22nd, 2012)

Facebook is adding a new tagging feature to its Open Graph that'll make it easy for Facebook users to tag their friends in any Facebook connected app. Called Mention Tagging, the new feature will scan text that is being typed into an app and look for phrases that mention the name of a user's ...

Twitter's API plans cause trouble for iOS devs, but they're sticking with it

by Mike Schramm (Aug 17th, 2012)

Twitter has announced a series of upcoming changes to its API that could cause problems for developers who use it their apps. There are a number of technical and aesthetic updates, but the biggest change is that certain calls to the API will be rate-limited and governed by authentication tokens, ...

Nuance's 'Nina' vocal assistant SDK may voiceprint users for authentication

by Mike Schramm (Aug 6th, 2012)

Nuance has introduced a brand-new voice interface for smartphones that it's calling Nina -- you can see it in action in a video just posted online. Nina is a mobile OS interface that's open to third-party developers, so it's essentially a Siri that any app developer (willing to read through the ...

Instagram update disables "Find Twitter Friends" feature

by Steven Sande (Jul 27th, 2012)

A new version of Instagram (free) just arrived this morning, along with the news that the photoblogging tool now has 80 million users. But there's something missing in the update. If you've ever used the "Twitter Friends" feature, you'll be dismayed to find that it's no longer available. As you ...

Spotify offers API to iOS developers

by Mike Schramm (Sep 1st, 2011)

Spotify has launched an API service that could have some really interesting results for both iOS developers and users of the music-sharing program. The API allows access by iOS developers to all of Spotify's 15 million music tracks, which can be played or used as they see fit. There are some ...

Bit.ly announces iOS 5 SDK

by Erica Sadun (Aug 24th, 2011)

Are you an iOS 5 developer? Have you paid up on your membership and accepted the NDA agreement? If so, bit.ly is opening up a new iOS 5-specific SDK. The new SDK allows iOS apps to integrate branded bit.ly shortcuts into the previously-announced new Twitter services. Branded shortcuts include ...

Pay through your iPhone camera with card.io

by Steven Sande (Jun 23rd, 2011)

Using your credit card to pay for products or services through apps can be a pain, particularly if you need to type in that 16-digit card number and a three-digit security code on a virtual keyboard. A new startup, card.io, wants to make paying for something as easy as taking a picture with your ...

Evernote offering developer competition, conference

by Mike Schramm (May 24th, 2011)

Evernote has announced two big events for its developer community coming up later this year. First, the company is holding a competition with over $100,000 in prizes available to win. To enter, all developers need to do is build an app, service, or device that works with the Evernote system by ...

Microsoft makes appeal to iOS developers

by Dana Franklin (May 5th, 2011)

Microsoft hopes to lure iOS developers to Windows Phone 7. A new website published by the company earlier this year now offers guides and testimonials specifically designed to entice iOS developers to transform their iPhone apps into Windows Phone compatible software. Currently, Microsoft finds ...

Postagram creates postcards from Instagram photos

by Chris Ward (Apr 13th, 2011)

We've been fans of Instagram for a while, so we were keen to see what would happen when its developers opened Instagram's API to others. While there have been a few toe-in-the-water experiments, the first really interesting idea we've seen is Postagram. The service allows you to turn any ...

Rumor: Apple building Facebook into iPhone OS

by Mike Schramm (May 14th, 2010)

Business Insider says a source has told them that Apple is working on integrating Facebook directly into the next iPhone OS. This would mean the use of Facebook Connect to bring contacts directly into the phone (which we've heard as a rumor before, and which would make sense, considering that the ...