Most large app developers share common source code for all of their platforms, so I don&#x27;t buy your argument about platform compatability. It&#x27;s the same reason why the Facebook native app and Messenger are native apps rather than a simple UIWebView.<p>I also think that uploading tons of photos is going to be very hard on the &quot;throttled pay-as-you-go bandwidth contracts&quot; that you mention. It certainly sounds much more expensive than shipping a binary patch once in a while.<p>You bring up privacy, so let&#x27;s explore this topic a little. I disagree that privacy inherently conflicts with a company&#x27;s bottom line. Some Fortune-500 companies treat privacy as a <i>desirable goal</i> because it <i>increases the perceived value</i> of their business.<p>As one example, let&#x27;s compare to Apple&#x27;s public privacy statement[1]:<p><pre><code>    &gt; We also refuse to add a &quot;backdoor&quot;
    &gt; into any of our products because
    &gt; that undermines the protections
    &gt; we’ve built in. And we can’t unlock
    &gt; your device for anyone because you
    &gt; hold the key — your unique password.
</code></pre>
See also Tim Cook&#x27;s statement[2]:<p><pre><code>    &gt; Finally, I want to be absolutely
    &gt; clear that we have never worked
    &gt; with any government agency from
    &gt; any country to create a backdoor
    &gt; in any of our products or services.
    &gt; We have also never allowed access
    &gt; to our servers. And we never will.
</code></pre>
Elsewhere:<p><pre><code>    &gt; Apple has no way to decrypt iMessage
    &gt; and FaceTime data when it’s in transit
    &gt; between devices. So unlike other companies’
    &gt; messaging services, Apple doesn’t
    &gt; scan your communications, and we
    &gt; wouldn’t be able to comply with
    &gt; a wiretap order even if we wanted to.
</code></pre>
This is what Apple <i>wants you to believe</i>: that they take privacy seriously enough to <i>go out of their way</i> to implement it. Facebook has never, ever tried to strike that chord. With their reputation, Facebook knows the public would never buy it.<p>The comparison isn&#x27;t very far-fetched. Like Facebook, Apple also deals with biometrics. Rather than face recognition, they use fingerprint recognition. Do they upload fingerprints to Apple&#x27;s servers? Or, despite your claims of impacting the bottom line, do they do the recognition on the device? Here&#x27;s their official statement[3]:<p><pre><code>    &gt; This [fingerprint representation]
    &gt; is stored in a Secure Enclave within
    &gt; your phone’s chip, and is never
    &gt; accessed by iOS or other apps,
    &gt; never stored on Apple servers,
    &gt; and never backed up to iCloud
    &gt; or anywhere else.
</code></pre>
Maybe these claims are true. Maybe they aren&#x27;t. However, you must admit that it makes <i>good business sense</i> for Apple to make these (strong) privacy claims. They&#x27;re setting a very good precedent here -- one that I sincerely hope Facebook chooses to follow.<p>If Facebook wants to win these kinds of brownie points with their customers, maybe they could write a statement like this:<p><pre><code>    &gt; Facebook knows that the photos you choose not
    &gt; to share are deeply personal to you. That&#x27;s
    &gt; why we take special steps to keep them that
    &gt; way. If you choose not to share a photo in
    &gt; your camera roll, it will never be sent to
    &gt; Facebook.
</code></pre>
But they can&#x27;t even try to pull this off if people see encrypted blobs flying across the wire every time they click the shutter button.<p>So. From a <i>privacy perspective</i>, it makes <i>good business sense</i> to implement the recognition pipeline on the device. And Facebook knows they could win back some public trust by doing that. The delicious question is: Is the trade-off worth it? Do the costs you mention outweigh the perceived benefits I mention? I think there were certainly developers on the Photo Magic team who <i>wished</i> it could be this way. It might have even been a close decision. But we can only find out for sure once Photo Magic rolls out to everyone.<p>1: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.apple.com&#x2F;privacy&#x2F;approach-to-privacy&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.apple.com&#x2F;privacy&#x2F;approach-to-privacy&#x2F;</a><p>2: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.apple.com&#x2F;privacy&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.apple.com&#x2F;privacy&#x2F;</a><p>3: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;support.apple.com&#x2F;en-us&#x2F;HT204587" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;support.apple.com&#x2F;en-us&#x2F;HT204587</a>