Product Update
Add images to your app straight from a link
Most of the images people put in an app already exist somewhere on the web — a product photo, a press shot, something from a stock library you pay for. Until now, getting one in meant saving it to your computer and then uploading it back. Now you just paste the link.
Paste a link, it's in your app
Open your app in Workbench, go to Assets, and click “Add from link”. Paste the image's address and it appears in your assets a moment later, filed in the right place and ready to use.
It's the shortest version of a job that used to take four steps: find the image, save it, find it again in your downloads, upload it. That round trip through your desktop is gone.
- In Workbench, open your app and go to the Assets tab.
- Click “Add from link” and paste the image's address.
- Choose whether to just add it, or add it and have the builder place it in your app for you.
It doesn't cost credits, and it doesn't wait
Bringing in an image you already found doesn't spend any BICS — nothing is being generated, so there's nothing to charge for. That's the difference between this and “Generate image” sitting next to it.
It also doesn't queue up behind whatever else you're doing. If your app is mid-build, you can still add an image — the two run side by side instead of taking turns.
Worth knowing
We remember where each image came from
Every image you bring in by link keeps a note of the address it came from. Open the image in Assets and you'll see its source, so months later you can still answer the question “where did this one come from?” — which matters if you're ever asked whether you had the right to use it.
We ask you to confirm you have that right before the image is added. It's one checkbox, and it's there because your app gets published on a real address with your name on it.
What works, and what to do when it doesn't
JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF and GIF images all work, up to 10MB each — that covers essentially everything you'll find on the web today.
Two things to know. It has to be the link to the image itself, not the page it sits on — right-click the picture and choose “Copy image address”. And some sites deliberately block other sites from fetching their images; if that happens we'll tell you plainly, and saving the file and using Upload still works exactly as it always has.
What's new at a glance
- Add any image from the web by pasting its link — no saving and re-uploading.
- Costs no BICS, because nothing is being generated.
- Works while your app is building, instead of waiting its turn.
- Optionally have the builder place the image in your app in the same step.
- Each image keeps a record of where it came from, visible in Assets.
- JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF and GIF, up to 10MB each.
Live now in Workbench — the “Add from link” button appears in the Assets tab of every app, nothing to turn on. Upload, chat attachments and Generate all work exactly as before. Questions or a format you need that isn't on the list? Tell us in the product channel.
Release notes
- NewAdd from link — paste the address of an image on the web and it's downloaded straight into your app's Assets, filed and ready to use. No saving it to your computer and uploading it back.
- NewBringing in an image costs no BICS, and it doesn't queue behind a build — you can add one while your app is still being built.
- NewAdd it and place it in one step — choose “Add it and put it in the app” and the builder picks a sensible spot and wires the image in for you.
- NewEvery imported image keeps a record of the address it came from, shown on the image in Assets, so you can always check its source later.
- ImprovedJPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF and GIF are all supported — including the WebP format most image libraries and news sites now serve by default.