Here are the data-related API's I wish existed:<p>1. Indeed.com - analytics on how many job ads mentioned a specific brand or keyword.<p>2. Yelp - analytics on how many checkins a restaurant or chain got every month.<p>3. Apple Store - analytics on how many downloads an app got every month.<p>4. Amazon Reviews - an API to retrieve reviews for a product.<p>5. Google Trends - API to retrieve historical trends for a keyword<p>6. Google Search API - API to get search results for a keyword<p>7. Linkedin Company Page API - API to get the feed for any company page<p>8. Instagram API - API to get the feed for any instagram user or search results for any keyword<p>Here are
the non-data API's I wished exist (that could be potential low-hanging fruit startup ideas):<p>....None
Is it too snarky to say I wish there were a <i>usable</i> API for Google Sheets? I spent a week reading documentation, downloading sample code, searching StackOverflow, digging through mailing list archives, and trying to debug what was happening on my test account, but I simply could not get their OAuth workflow to work at all. None of the {documentation, setup screens, sample code, observed behavior} match with any of the others.<p>I mentioned this on HN once before and got a "I thought it was just me!" response.
I hope some major stock trading website can have api for<p>1. historical data<p>2. real-time data<p>3. trading api<p>credit card usage/history data (only for myself) that is across all credit card brand.
Can I say all of them?<p>Actually, something that may be even more important is free and open access to APIs. I'm okay with registration procedures for larger volumes, but not for hobby use. It seems to me an unnecessary obstacle. If the hit rates are similar to what a user with a web browser would produce why is my script forced to register when the web user is not?
I would like to see software producers provide an API to download the latest release and a list of previous releases. You'd be surprised how difficult it is to automate the installation of (primarily desktop) software (Slack, IntelliJ, etc.)
Netflix would be nice. I'd love to be able to create playlists, or even play random things. Trying to watch through Arrow / Flash / Legends of Tomorrow / Supergirl in chronological order is a real pain in the butt.
Some of my college’s websites (dining services, course catalog). With an API, my senior project would be so much easier. Unfortunately, I had to scape the information needed which isn’t ideal.
Amazon. I'd love to be able to place orders without using a third-party that needs to know your CC/login credentials. So much automation could happen.
iWork files. There's been at least two completely different (and completely undocumented) formats so far, with not even a proprietary library for accessing them.<p>I really wish I could provide integration with Numbers.app, but as a one-man shop I can't afford to get distracted with maintaining a reverse-engineered file format for one use case.