Pinterest announced in May that it would let third-party developers tap into its data to create new apps and integrations. Now, two months later, we finally know who the first two developers are: Internet-automation site IFTTT and fashion-discovery site Polyvore.
Think of IFTTT — short for “If This Then That” — as a simple way to create notifications and triggers that optimize our everyday activities. The service is available on web, and enables a slew of different scenarios, called “recipes.” These recipes include getting texts when the shipping status of your Amazon service changes, or backing up digital paintings of Kim Kardashian to your SkyDrive (yep, seriously).
IFTTT will now let users sign in via web, iOS and Android apps, and create recipes that take advantage of the social network in some way. They can also use one of more than 20 pre-made recipes, including automatically pinning new items for sale to their Etsy store, or automatically pinning Instagrams they like to their Pinterest boards.
Polyvore, which lets users browse and buy clothes, accessories and beauty items, already allowed Pinterest users to pin items they like from the service onto their boards. However, they still needed to sign into the site first using their Polyvore, Facebook or Twitter accounts. Starting Wednesday, however, users can sign into Polyvore via web and iOS using their Pinterest accounts to more easily pin items they like. (Android support is coming soon.)
“We announced the Developers Platform a few months ago, and wanted to move fast and ship great experiences from IFTTT and Polyvore to show what's possible,” a Pinterest spokesperson told Mashable. “This is just the first step, as we help people do more with their pins online and offline.”
For Pinterest, opening up its platform to outside developers is one way to expand its user base, which eMarketer reported has grown more slowly over the last two years than either Facebook or Twitter. To wit, it estimated earlier this year that the social network has around 47 million monthly users in the U.S., and will top 50 million next year.
On the other hand, market research firm GlobalWebIndex said Pinterest is currently growing faster than either Facebook or Twitter, but added that it still trails behind both social networks. Facebook, for example, reported having 128 million daily active users in the U.S. two years ago, while Twitter said it had 63 million monthly users stateside late last year.
That’s largely because Pinterest’s primary use case –- finding and pinning things you like -– appeals to a smaller number of people than posting status updates or tweeting quippy 140-character messages into the digital ether.
That said, early results from Polyvore are encouraging. When it tested Pinterest integration with a small subset of its 20 million members, Polyvore saw shares to their Pinterest boards spike 132% over the course of a month.
Clarification: An earlier version of this story referenced global user-base figures for Facebook and Twitter. The story has been updated to reflect user-base figures for the U.S. only.
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