-2

I was wondering if websites and mobile applications store images on third party websites or just use them as a way of mapping the url to a local server so it is not made public? For example here on stackoverflow I see that the images point to an imgur url, my profile image for example my profile picture.

I ask because I am developing a mobile application and need to store and load images, and I see the option to load images from urls instead of from an own database. If storing images is something possible I am considering it as a goop option to save space on the servers of the app and improve performance.

Community
  • 1
  • 1
Esteban Verbel
  • 738
  • 2
  • 20
  • 39

1 Answers1

1

You can store images locally, on a server, or pull them from a 3rd party website. All are valid options, and which one to pick depends on your specific app's requirements. Note that if your are pulling images from a website that you don't control, there is no guarantee that the specific url you are using will still work in the future (there are, of course, also licensing issues to consider).

Jason
  • 86,222
  • 15
  • 131
  • 146
  • Ok. I thought that storing images on third party websites was something that could be used as a service for not having to store them on a local server. In my case I want total control over all the images that will be on my app. Thank you – Esteban Verbel Nov 01 '16 at 01:27
  • you can use a CDN or service like Amazon S3 to provide storage for images that are under your control – Jason Nov 01 '16 at 01:41