API Manager for Mobile App SDK Key Provisioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile application developers face challenges in managing application programming interface (API) keys for third-party software development kits (SDKs), and third-party services struggle with managing permissions associated with these keys, leading to inefficiencies in providing additional features and capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for managing API keys, where an API manager acts as an intermediary between third-party service providers and application developers, handling API key provisioning, storage, and management, including notifications, key requests, and condition enforcement, to streamline the process and reduce burdens on both parties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If mobile application developers directly manage API keys for multiple third-party SDKs, then they can access and control the keys, but the administrative burden and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an API manager as an intermediary system between mobile application developers and third-party service providers. The API manager centralizes the storage and management of API keys, allowing developers to access keys through a unified interface without directly interacting with multiple third-party providers. This mediator approach reduces the administrative burden on developers while maintaining secure access control.
2Productivity
If third-party service providers directly manage permissions for their APIs, then they can control access, but the workload and time required for permission management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a mechanism where the API manager proactively requests and obtains API keys from third-party service providers in advance, before they are needed by mobile applications. The system automatically manages the provisioning process, storing keys securely and making them available when required. This preliminary action approach eliminates the need for service providers to manually manage permissions for each application, significantly reducing their workload and time investment.
3Ease of operation
If an API manager is introduced to centralize key management, then the burden on developers and service providers is reduced, but the system architecture becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The API manager is designed as a universal system that handles multiple functions: storing API keys, managing permissions, provisioning keys to applications, and interfacing with multiple third-party service providers. By consolidating these diverse functions into a single multi-functional platform, the system reduces overall complexity despite the added architectural layer, as developers and service providers interact with a unified interface rather than multiple separate systems.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for managing application programming interface (API) keys associated with third-party software development kits (SDKs). The method includes: receiving, from an application developer machine, a plurality of notifications identifying a plurality of third-party SDKs selected for installment in a mobile application under development; sending a plurality of API key provisioning requests to a plurality of third-party service providers including a plurality of third-party APIs corresponding to the plurality of third-party SDKs; receiving a plurality of API keys for the mobile application under development from the plurality of third-party service providers; and storing the plurality of API keys.