According to the name, a third-party API means a special program that connects functionalities from different apps. It is provided by a third-party, usually (but not necessarily) large enterprises, to enable you to access their data or software functionalities on your website or application.
An example of this is when a ride-hailing app, such as Uber, integrates a Map functionality from an app like Google Maps to track rides. By implementing a third-party API, Uber saves time on building map functionality from scratch.
Examples This is a third-party API list of popular examples in common usage both on mobile apps and web apps.
Google Analytics is a popular tool for tracking and collecting information on website visitors. It is useful for digital marketers and SEO experts and it is often integrated into marketing and CRM solutions.
Google Maps is, no doubt, the most popular geolocation API, especially for third-party API in Android devices. From ride-hailing apps to online games and even retail companies, Google Maps is widely used across various industries and business leaders trying to create a transportation app.
For businesses whose apps require some form of login and want to avoid data duplication, among the most preferred third-party API examples for user authentication is Facebook Login. It is useful for account creation and data sharing. It’s a particularly popular choice for online game developers.
Most webmasters prefer to embed videos on their sites via YouTube. For one, it helps to easily track numbers and integrate YouTube analytics directly from blog visits. It also reduces the server load on your website since the video remains hosted on YouTube.
APIs from Stripe and PayPal are among the most common tools for integrating payments into web and mobile applications. They also enable businesses to issue invoices, track payments, and maintain secure records.
This is another business tool popular among companies in the travel industry. The Flights API from Skyscanner is useful for getting flight details, monitoring ticket prices, and even managing revenue.
Recently, Apple made its Screen Time API accessible to third-party developers and apps. One of the immediate obvious benefits of this move was granting access to better parental controls for users.
To understand how a 3rd party API works, we must first differentiate it from a first-party API. The latter is designed for internal purposes, while the former is an interface that allows you to connect your app to services from other companies.
An API is a reusable communication interface/medium between two apps; it creates shared functionalities and enables seamless, regulated data sharing. In the third-party case, the owner develops an app functionality as an API so that other apps can plug into their app features. To achieve this, integration code is made public as well as documentation concerning its implementation.
Before now, every new app maker had to build all its functionalities from scratch. However, now, software developers can take advantage of third-party APIs to access functionalities that would have otherwise taken time and effort to build. Therefore, a 3rd party API integration helps to save cost, time, and effort.
Google Sign-in enables several apps to use OAuth authorization credentials to manage user profiles. Without such an authorization API for third-party integration, every user has to create a new profile for every sign-up. More so, every company has to manage multiple data from the same sources.
A third-party API is easier to maintain. After all, it is owned, managed, and maintained by the company that develops it. For the third party, it is an easy ‘plug and play’ method. If you use third-party APIs from a reliable company, then you shouldn’t have any problems since maintenance and updates would always take place seamlessly.
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