The new API/SDK is a big overhaul of the one introduced just a couple of months ago

Jun 28, 2012 16:41 GMT  ·  By

It's been just one day of Google I/O and there have been plenty of announcements. With Google launching new tablets, spheres, and having people jump out of plans wearing its futuristic computer glasses, some of the less glamorous stuff got a bit pushed to the back.

That doesn't make it any less important. Case in point is the Google Drive API that has now been expanded to become a full-blown SDK and, importantly, to enable both Android and iOS apps to plug into the cloud storage service.

"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," Google wrote.

"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," it said.

"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," it explained.

The big news though is support for the two major mobile platforms. Any mobile app can now build Drive into it, enabling users to save files to the cloud or retrieve them on their phones and tablets.

This is no small feat, Dropbox has been very popular with developers precisely because it allowed easy access to the service via the web or through mobile apps.

Google is also expanding what web apps can do with Drive. Websites will be able to enable file sharing via Google Drive with a simple JavaScript snippet. Conversely, users will be able to use their native Google Docs files with any third-party app that supports the formats in which Docs can export into, PDF, Word and so on.