Android and iOS

Designing mobile API rate limits

TLS, authorization, request integrity, caching and network failures.

Network and API protection1 min readEditorial methods

Rate limits reduce excessive use, but IP-only limits can affect many legitimate mobile users together.

Evaluation approach

Consider account, operation, registration and resource cost. Expensive endpoints need different budgets from simple reads.

Application example

Limit SMS attempts separately, without giving an account unlimited fresh allowance whenever its network changes.

Limits and considerations

Rate limits do not replace authorization or fraud analysis.

How mobile networks affect identity

Many users may share an exit address, while one user may change networks frequently. Treating an IP as a sole identity can produce both missed abuse and false blocks.

Checks and decisions

  • Limit by cost
  • Test shared IPs
  • Manage retries

Sources

The primary references above provide the technical basis. Example workflows and evaluation suggestions are this publication’s explanations, not independent test results for a particular product.