June 29, 2023

Explaining App Interop

Explaining App Interop

Copy & Paste

The simplest example of app interop is the copy & paste of data between apps within a tech stack

App interop enables the copy and paste of data between applications via a shared tech stack.


We use this everyday with the copy/paste sharing of data across apps in mobile.

A user can request to a share a picture on their phone, choose a destination app, and then share it.



In capital markets, the Copy/Paste of data is automated across applications within desktop containers.  Both with long existing systems (like Bloomberg shown below) and with newer systems using FDC3.

Bloomberg color linking automates the sharing of  context data across multiple applications



Nouns & Verbs

The context data we share in app interop are nouns, the intents we use are verbs

An app can invoke the verb 'CallIntent' and decorate it with a noun: 'ContactData'


The FDC3 standard defines nouns and verbs for finance so that all financial apps can speak the same language

Diagram of some of the noun/verb vocabulary of FDC3


The Fragmentation Problem

However, the landscape for copy/paste is fragmented by a growing number of tech stacks and walled gardens.  Even if different tech stacks are using FDC3 they can't copy/paste across these boundaries.

Desktop containers block interop outside of their walls



The Connectifi Solution

Connectifi makes this copy / paste possible to do anywhere by moving it to the cloud so that interop can happen across containers, web browsers, and across desktop and mobile devices.

Connectifi enables interop across any tech boundaries.