Since Google launched its new social network Google+ last June, developers have been promised eventual access to the site's data through APIs. Today, Google+ developer advocate Chris Chabot announced that the first Google+ APIs are now available to the public.
"These APIs allow you to retrieve the public profile information and public posts of the Google+ users, and they lay the foundation for us to build on together - Nothing great is ever built in a vacuum so I’m excited to start the conversation about what the Google+ platform should look like," Chabot said today.
They are limited in their scope to just what Chabot said: reading public profiles and public posts only.
The complicated matter of circles and their varied level of permissions is an issue to be tackled at a later date.
Developers need to register their apps before they can hook up with Google+ and start making calls to public feeds, and once they do, there is a "courtesy usage quota," so really this first set of APIs is just for testing integration and starting the whole process of working with Google+ and its data.
To start using the API to build apps or integrate into existent apps, visit the Google+ Platform developer site.