On Thursday, Reddit announced that it will now allow users to upload NSFW (not safe for work) images from desktops in adult communities. This feature was previously only available on the social network’s mobile app. The company made the announcement on the r/modnews subreddit, highlighting that this step will bring feature parity across platforms.
To use this feature, communities must be set to 18+ if their content will primarily be NSFW. The decision to allow native NSFW uploads through desktops comes after Imgur, the image hosting platform, said that it was banning explicit photos from May 15th. The social network’s communities heavily rely on Imgur’s hosting services, and this decision to allow desktop uploads of NSFW images seems like the most practical solution going forward.
However, NSFW image hosting is not the only challenge that Reddit faces. Last month, the company announced that it would start charging for its API and limit access to mature content through its API, which would affect the experience on third-party Reddit apps. In the recent announcement about desktop upload for NSFW images, a Reddit staff member mentioned that the company is discussing how to navigate this situation.
Developers of popular iOS Reddit client Apollo, including Christian Selig, have expressed readiness to accept Reddit’s guidelines if the social network allows third-party app users to access NSFW communities. The move by Reddit to enable desktop NSFW image uploads is aimed at bringing consistency to the features available across the social network’s platforms.
