What is the difference between an "integration" and an "app"?

  • 21 July 2021
  • 6 replies
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I see that in my preferences I have a list of “integrations” I can turn on (eg Facebook, OneDrive, Dropbox). There is no explanation of what such integrations do. Yet there are also “apps”, many of which have the same name and (perhaps) the same functionality.

I’m specifically interested in being able to embed videos from OneDrive into my Miro boards. Does that mean I need to use an “integration” or an “app”? 

This page seems to talk about an integration as an app, so I’m confused:

https://help.miro.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017731273-OneDrive

Meanwhile, I can’t install the app, since I’m not an admin, but I can turn on the integration. But I can’t tell what it does.


6 replies

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@Jan Krapptaur - I will take a stab at answer this - however, I’m not a developer, so this is just my take on the subject.

“Apps & Integrations” - these are all just things that work with Miro. When they use the word “integrations”, this usually just refers to other applications/platforms that exist outside of Miro, e.g., Google Drive or OneDrive, which also integrate with Miro. For example, I have connected/integrated the Google Drive application to my Miro team which allows me to add a link to a Google Drive document directly from my Miro board. And when I double-click on that embedded item, it opens in a modal window within the Miro board rather than opening a new browser window/tab and opening the document in Google Drive’s website.

An “app” could be an application created specifically for use within Miro boards, created using Miro’s Developer Platform.

As for better explanations on what the apps do, I’d suggest checking out the Miro Marketplace.

Thanks for replying. I guess what I don’t understand then is why, if “Apps & Integrations”  are all just things that work with Miro, why Miro has a list of “integrations” in my profile which appear to be distinct from apps.

 

 

More to the point, what does this “integration” from the above list do? 

 

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@Jan Krapptaur - Ahhh, okay. I see what you are referring to. The screen/section you are showing is related to your Miro account profile and not at the team profile (where apps can be installed for all team members).

In the context of your Miro account profile, integrations are 3rd-party/external services that you have connected/integrated with your Miro account profile. For example, I have the Google Drive app connected to my Miro account (or maybe it’s technically the other way around - doesn’t really matter) so when I click on the upload icon from within a Miro board and select Google Drive, I a presented with a list of documents in my Google Drive account that I can add to the board:

However, if another team member completes the same action and they have connected to their own Google Drive account, they will see their documents - and if they have not given Miro access to their Google Drive account yet, they will be taken to a screen like this:

 

Your apps

These are apps that you have created yourself using the Miro Developer Platform. For example, I have some web development experience from 150 years ago and have created a few apps to help automate some repetitive actions:

More on creating your own apps here → https://developers.miro.com/docs/getting-started

Ah  - “your apps”, I’d not noticed that. That seems to be something else again - ignore that.

 

I’m still a bit confused though as you start off talking about an integration on my profile, but then start referring to them as apps? (“In the context of your Miro account profile, integrations are 3rd-party/external services ... For example, I have the Google Drive app ...”)

What I refer to is the OneDrive that appears in the “apps” list here seen below vs the integration that appears in my profile in my first post. What I’m mainly interested in is whether either of them can embed a video from my OneDrive folder (given public permissions)?

I am also interested in what the integration does that the app does not (or vice versa).

 

At least, I’m pretty sure they are separate things, since once says I need to get an admin to install it while the other lets me add it. When I try the “Upload” tool in Miro though and select OneDrive it asks me to install the app (which I can’t). 

Userlevel 7
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@Jan Krapptaur - I don’t think I am going to be able to explain this in a way that makes sense to anyone other than myself :wink: - and that’s okay as what is important is: are you able to accomplish your goal?

What I refer to is the OneDrive that appears in the “apps” list here seen below vs the integration that appears in my profile in my first post. What I’m mainly interested in is whether either of them can embed a video from my OneDrive folder (given public permissions)?

I don’t see any mention in the Embedding Media to Boards Help Center article about embedding OneDrive videos, but I do see mention of videos in Google Drive:

 

Thanks - I think this may indicate I can’t embed a video that’s on OneDrive I think. At least, if I try to apply the Google Drive technique and embed a sharing link in Miro, it doesn't work. Would be interesting to know whether you might be able to with the OneDrive app enabled?

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