Facebook makes its image compression tech available to all

Most applications need to compress the photos you upload, because better cameras also mean bigger image files. The larger the file is, the more data you use and the longer the upload takes. Facebook is helping smaller developers address the need for image compression by releasing the technology it developed for faster image uploads as an open source tool. It's called Spectrum, and it can be integrated into iOS and Android projects, so you'll likely come across it on non-Facebook apps whichever platform you use.

Now, Facebook isn't exactly known for fantastic image compression -- if you regularly upload photos through its mobile app, you might even consider its optimization powers kinda lousy. It might do a better job than what some developers can come up with, though, and can provide the function for those who'd rather not write custom programs. Facebook says Spectrum has "improved reliability and quality of image uploads across [its] apps" and says the tool can reduce file sizes for up to 15 percent while maintaining their quality. The open source project is now available on GitHub.