I'm really surprised by the number of commenters who didn't figure this out already?
Yes. Any other questions?
Why Instagram is so fast at uploading photos
71–80 of 103 posts
Re: Why Instagram is so fast at uploading photos
#72So Instagram has photos I don't click "upload" on. Well that's nice to know. Edit: So I tried to use a proxy on my phone but it looks like Instragram on Android doesn't honour the wireless proxy server. Anyone else want to do some digging?
On slide 89 it mentions that they delete the data if the user cancels it.
Do they also delete photos from a backend database backup that might've occurred after the upload but before the user cancelled the photo?
Re: Why Instagram is so fast at uploading photos
#73Their motivation for speed is very well put:
"mobile experiences fill gaps while we wait. no one wants to wait while they wait"
Awesome quote
Re: Why Instagram is so fast at uploading photos
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
On slide 89 it mentions that they delete the data if the user cancels it.
Do they also delete photos from a backend database backup that might've occurred after the upload but before the user cancelled the photo?
The photo isn't store in a database. It's stored on S3. They are not backing up S3, so this concern is misplaced.
Re: Why Instagram is so fast at uploading photos
#75A little devil's avocate: Isn't Instagram primarily a photo sharing app? I'm not sure why people are complaining that it starts the upload on filter completion. My only question is how long are photos not marked as user initiated uploads kept?
To me this seems way offside. What if I, a regular user, uses instagram for taking all my photos. What if I take nude photos of my wife. Should I really expect instagram to upload them without my permission? I'm guessing 99% of people would not only be surprised by this behavior, but also outraged.
Instagram is a photo sharing service. They've never hidden that aspect. The default user expectation is uploading and sharing. I don't see why immediately initiating the upload would be unexpected for the user.
Re: Why Instagram is so fast at uploading photos
#76A little devil's avocate: Isn't Instagram primarily a photo sharing app? I'm not sure why people are complaining that it starts the upload on filter completion. My only question is how long are photos not marked as user initiated uploads kept?
> I'm not sure why people are complaining that it starts the upload on filter completion.
If it put responsiveness before everything else, it could even start uploading before the filters are applied and apply the filters server-side when they are validated.
While this would significantly increase server load (and duplicate the work, as filters would be applied both by the phone and by the server), it would make the visible upload window even lower (or even not exist at all).
Re: Why Instagram is so fast at uploading photos
#77Chrome does the same, when you right-clic on a file and select "Save as…", the download begin in a temporary file, and then when you select the emplacement where you want to put the new file, it moves the temporary file in it.
I don't know a browser which does not do that. They need to start the download to get the metadata (file name and type), and they'll do it if only because shitty servers may react very badly to the browser just stopping with a full socket buffer.
Re: Why Instagram is so fast at uploading photos
#78I'm not an Instagram user, so I may be off base... but why not start uploading the photo right when the user snapped it, i.e. before selecting a filter. Then apply the selected filter server-side on the original photo. That way you save a few more seconds while the user is selecting the filter.
Image manipulation on a large scale is expensive. Leaving it up to the user's device to run the image through filters eliminates server strain.
Definitely the case especially since they were on Amazon, and thus had to pay for EC2 minutes.
Now that they're at Facebook, server load shouldn't be a problem anymore though. So they could implement that.
Re: Why Instagram is so fast at uploading photos
#79I trust Instagram to not engage in monkey business with my data. Having said that, this is flirting with the path-address-book kind of privacy-related scrutiny. There has to be a way of telling the user at WHAT POINT the data has started uploading. The progress bar of photo uploads has to mean what it shows or else it is a plain and simple deception (even if it's in the name of performance and user experience). I can…
> I trust Instagram to not engage in monkey business with my data. Do you trust Facebook to the same extent?
Actually yes I do trust them to the same extent. But that's a choice I have made based on my perceived trust level. I am even OK with advertisers harvesting my photos (not sure if that is possible yet). My main desired privacy control is whether people that are not supposed to see my photos or browse through my galleries, actually get to do that. That's not necessarily a monkey business but an outcome of a privacy implementation flaw (assuming it is unintentional). That will certainly have an impact on my trust level for Facebook. The difference with instagram is that you go into instagram knowing that everything is public and so is the general sharing norm on that platform.
Re: Why Instagram is so fast at uploading photos
#80So Instagram has photos I don't click "upload" on. Well that's nice to know. Edit: So I tried to use a proxy on my phone but it looks like Instragram on Android doesn't honour the wireless proxy server. Anyone else want to do some digging?
On slide 89 it mentions that they delete the data if the user cancels it.
Ha, I love the HN reaction to this. Sperging out about Instagram getting photos they're "not supposed to", fake outrage about fake privacy breaches, all while blatantly ignoring this fact.
And of course, I'm sure all this fake outrage has nothing to do with Instagram's recent purchase by Facebook.