We are going to build a Web API application which will be used by an Android app. I want to protect this public facing API so that only the Android app can use the API.
We prefer not to use HTTPS because the data that is transferred is not sensitive really. There is also no sign-in involved so as long as we make sure the legitimate app is making the call we are fine.
I was thinking of sharing a kind of secret data between the app and the api but our Android developer says whatever data we put in the app can be retrieved by malicious people. Plus, transferring that piece of data over HTTP is not safe.
I would like to know if anyone can help me with a solution by which we preferably won't have to use HTTPS?