Announcing Version 2 of the Google Drive SDK
by Mike Procopio, Software Engineer, on behalf of the Google Drive SDK
team
In April, we
announced
the first version of the
Google Drive
SDK along with a range of
Drive
apps. Built using the SDK, these apps bring life to the files people store in Google
Drive. Today at Google I/O, we're announcing the next version of the Google Drive SDK with a
number of updates including an expanded API, a simplified developer experience and mobile app
support.
The new Drive API exposes all standard
file operations as well
as methods to list and search files, convert between formats, copy files, manage revisions,
and share files with users. The API is based on open standards, including a RESTful service
architecture, JSON data exchange format, and OAuth2 for
authorization. And with a
simplified design and drop-in
client libraries available
in eight languages, using the API has never been easier.
Users want to access their files in Drive from anywhere. Today, we're announcing full mobile
support for Android and iOS apps using the Drive SDK. Mobile apps can securely use the Drive
API to read and write files directly to Google Drive. Users can also "Open with" on mobile
devices to view or edit content from their phone or tablet just like they do on the web.
(Installation of apps via the Chrome Web Store is no longer required.)
We also introduced several new features for Drive apps for the web. Google Drive makes it easy
to share files, and we’re bringing sharing to your apps with the familiar Drive sharing box.
With just a few lines of JavaScript added to your app, users can share their files with the
new
embeddable
sharing component. Also, users can now open Google document formats in any app that
supports one of the many
export
formats available. For example, an app that faxes PDFs can now fax a Google
document, spreadsheet, or presentation directly.
Finally, there are a handful of great new Drive apps that will soon join the many apps
already
available today. These new apps range from mobile photo editors for cropping photos
on your phone to a web-based IDE for slingin' code in the cloud.
Want to make your application work with Google Drive? Full documentation on the Google Drive
SDK is available at
developers.google.com/drive, or if
you're itching to start building, head to our
Getting Started guide. Our
team is on
Stack
Overflow to answer any questions you have when integrating your app with Google
Drive.
Mike
Procopio is a Software Engineer for Google Drive, focusing on all things Drive apps.
He gets to leverage his passion for the developer and user experience by working on the
next-generation APIs that help unleash Google Drive. Before joining Google in 2010, he was a
machine learning researcher, and enjoys engaging in illuminating statistical discussions at
every opportunity.
Posted by Scott Knaster,
Editor
