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App integration seen as key to online business strategy [Chicago Tribune]
[September 26, 2014]

App integration seen as key to online business strategy [Chicago Tribune]


(Chicago Tribune (IL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 26--If you have the Walgreen app, you can fill prescriptions or print photos with a tap on your smartphone.

Tim McCauley, senior director of mobile commerce for the Deerfield-based company, says that's good -- but it isn't enough. He'd like to find more ways to embed Walgreen into hundreds of other mobile apps.

McCauley was one of the speakers at a conference this week in Chicago that brought mobile app developers together with businesses ranging from Walgreen and Sears to technology startups. Their focus: an arcane topic known as APIs, or application programming interfaces. Think of an API as a huge technical manual that companies use to program their websites and online applications. By granting outsiders access to that proprietary data, companies like Walgreen see an opportunity to make strategic partnerships with other mobile apps that, in turn, helps build their sales.



Walgreen started by opening its photo printing API.

"That's one area where we have a very strong focus," McCauley said. "All of our customers are using their phones and have photos on their phones. We want to be an easy way to share those memories. ... We started with photo, but we want to put an API in every part of our stores." Today, more than 100 photo apps are integrated with Walgreen's photo API and can print directly to more than 8,000 Walgreens stores. No need to visit Walgreen's website or its mobile app.


Elliot Greenberger, general manager at Divvy, the bike-sharing program implemented in Chicago last year, imagines a day when Divvy riders can record their miles and see how they rank against other riders.

"People would want that to feed into whatever app they're using, whether that's the Nike app or Walgreen's fitness app," Greenberger said. "People also love the competition of it." Today, Divvy has some information available via various apps. The CycleFinder app uses Divvy's API data to tell people which stations have Divvy bikes available and how many open slots there are to return bikes. About 15 to 20 mapping apps integrate that Divvy data in some way.

The city of Chicago also uses APIs to make crime and other data available to developers.

Tom Schenk Jr., who oversees Chicago's open data portal, said WasMyCarTowed.com uses the city's API data. The site pulls that information on towed cars every 15 minutes and gives a "YES" or "NO" answer when a user types in a license plate number to see if the car was towed or relocated.

But APIs aren't only for mobile apps and websites. California-based Speaktoit created an API for voice recognition that could be integrated with everyday objects. The company shares the API with external developers, that would allow consumers, for example, to turn on an oven by telling it to do so or find their glasses by asking, "Where are my glasses?" and having the glasses respond, "I'm over here!" Speaktoit CEO Ilya Gelfenbeyn said opening APIs is a trend that will have a huge impact on the consumer market -- and those talking glasses might not be far off.

"Before it was like we're opening up an API for some API enthusiast," Gelfenbeyn said, "but now it's becoming much more mainstream." [email protected] Twitter @ellenjeanhirst What is an API? API stands for application programming interface. APIs include programming instructions -- a set of commands and protocols -- for developers that can be used to build software for a specific operating system.

What does it mean to open an API? When APIs are "opened," external developers can design products powered by the existing API, without having to write the program from scratch. Companies can make the API data available online or a developer might need to request it.

How many APIs are public? The number of public APIs hovered around 10,000 at the end of 2013, according to 3scale, the company that hosted this week's strategy and practice conference. In 2014 so far, about 3,000 more have been opened for public use.

___ (c)2014 the Chicago Tribune Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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