HeyWatch, the Cloud Video Encoding Service, Built For Developers, which enables to outsource, automate and design a custom encoding workflow for any project with just a few lines of code, today announced the release of its API version 2.
8 years old
The original HeyWatch API turned 8 and was was created at a time where everyone just needed a simple Flash version of their videos, so that visitors could watch them on the Web. Today, it's way more complicated due to all the new formats: MP4, WebM, HLS, JPG (thumbnails), GIF, HEVC and VP9.
In 8 years, we have seen multiple revolutions in the video industry, for example the rise of the h.264 codec, the WebM codec released by Google, the revolution in the mobile industry with iPhone and Android devices, HTTP Live Streaming, and more. All these changes got companies transcoding into more and more formats to reach their audience.
More complexity needs more simplicity
To meet these new video needs, flexibility and simplicity were the keys. The HeyWatch team built the high-level and human-readable config-based API where a minified configuration file is used to describe and simplify any encoding workflow. Instead of using a verbose and difficult-to-read XML or JSON files, this new approach is focused on simplicity and developer productivity with an ultra easy-to-read syntax.
For this purpose, the team created a brand new config language with an ultra easy-to-read, edit and update syntax, meaning you can add a new output format, a new option and any new process in a snap.
Besides, this new API enables developers to code in it. It means they can use variables and conditional expressions to design a custom encoding workflow for their project. For instance, you can choose to transcode a video or not depending on the original video resolution, length or any other variables. It is really powerful and flexible. 
The workflow with the API is also pretty straightforward: submit a config file and wait for a webhook when the process is done. That's it.