Mxit now open to developers

MXit on Friday launched a beta version of its API (application programming interface), which gives entrepreneurs and software developers the ability to create social, commercial, entertainment, gaming, social upliftment and other applications for the vast user base of MXit worldwide.

The launch of an API (application programming interface) for Mxit opens a commercial door for anyone wanting to engage with users of one of the continent’s largest mobile media platforms ‚ and has the potential to provide a lucrative revenue stream.

‚This is perhaps the most exciting chapter in MXit’s history as a mobile social network and time will tell where this new evolution will take us,‚ said Herman Heunis, CEO and founder of Mxit, at the launch event, held in Stellenbosch on Friday.

‚The launch of the API allows software developers/entrepreneurs, from anywhere in the world, with a brilliant idea or concept to create unique applications for our users. The main obstacles normally facing entrepreneurs in the mobile space, such as support for countless different phones, marketing of their application(s), revenue collection and secure billing, are all taken care of as we not only support more than 2,500 different mobile handsets, but also have our own virtual currency, MXit Moola.

‚As an entrepreneurial spirited company, it is important to us that entrepreneurs who engage with us are rewarded with a revenue share, which could be as much as 70% (after cost). By opening MXit for external application development, the social network is effectively giving entrepreneurs/developers an opportunity to use their creativity to extend their business or software development to a mobile community that has a natural affinity for social interaction. Paramount to this is protection of our users and we will screen external applications carefully to ensure they fall within our brand values.”

Heunis continued, ‚It’s all about creating applications that will excite or fulfill a definite need to the community. Our aim, as always, is to ensure that our users are consistently delighted by our platform and its capabilities: and this is illustrated by the way MXit has evolved from an instant messaging platform in the early days to a mobile social network that incorporates vast communities that use MXit to enhance their lifestyles.‚

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