A Simple Forms API for Mobile Apps and Kiosks

A form API is a simple way to collect data in a mobile app, a kiosk, or any custom screen without building your own backend. You design your form once in EesyForm, then your app talks straight to that form. First, a quick plain-English note: an API is just a way for two programs to talk to each other over the internet. Nothing scary.

What a form API actually gives you

EesyForm offers headless JSON endpoints. Headless simply means the form works without its normal web page. Two requests cover most needs:

1. Get the form. Send one request with your published form's public slug and receive the full definition back as JSON: the questions, choices, and settings.
2. Send the answers. When someone finishes filling it in, send the completed answers back with another request.

These are plain HTTP requests carrying JSON, a common text format for sending data. Any programming language can make them, so there is no special SDK to install and nothing heavy to learn. In tech terms this is known as a REST API for forms, but you only need to remember two moves: read the questions, send the answers.

What you can build with it

Because the form lives outside a normal browser page, you can present it almost anywhere:

• Native iOS or Android apps.
• React Native apps.
• Self-service kiosks, such as check-in screens.
• Tablets in stores for quick sign-ups or orders.
• Fully custom frontends with your own look and feel.

The form logic stays in EesyForm, while the screen in front of people is entirely yours. If you would rather keep people on a normal web page instead, that path is covered in our guide to embedding forms on websites.

The flow, step by step

Here is the whole journey in plain words:

1. Your app fetches the form using its slug.
2. It shows the questions inside your own interface, one screen at a time or all together, however you like.
3. When the person submits, the app sends the answers back to EesyForm.
4. You open your dashboard and the response is already there, alongside everything else.

That last step matters. Responses sent through the API flow into the same inbox, analytics, filters, and exports you already use. Nothing gets split into a second system. When you want the data out again, CSV export works exactly as usual.

And if you want to react quickly to new submissions, connect alerts. With webhooks and email notifications, your other tools hear about each new answer the moment it arrives.

Where this shines in real life

Picture a gym with tablets at the front desk. Members tap through a sign-up form right on the tablet. Or a clinic with kiosks where patients check in by answering a few questions. Or a delivery crew using a phone app to log jobs on the go. In each case, someone builds a simple screen and lets the form API handle storing the answers.

Try it yourself

Design a form, grab the details from the mobile docs, and test one request from your app. Full examples are included there. Sign up free at signup; no credit card needed. The free plan includes most question types (file upload and payment require Pro).

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to be a developer to use the forms API?

Some coding helps, yes. But the requests are plain HTTP calls with JSON, so any developer, working in any language, can wire them up quickly. The docs include working examples.

Does the data still land in my normal dashboard?

Yes. Answers submitted through the API appear in the same inbox, filters, analytics, and exports as responses collected on the regular form page.

Can I use my own design instead of the built-in form page?

Exactly. Your app fetches the questions and renders them however you want, which suits native apps, kiosks, and fully custom interfaces.

Is anything special required, like an SDK?

No special SDK is needed. Standard HTTP requests carrying JSON are all it takes to read a form definition and submit completed answers.