Which image caching library for iOS?

Question

I am building a photo album app and find a few image caching libraries, namely:

• JMImageCache
• HJCache
• SDWebImage

What one you\'d re

Answer 1

Image async downloading and caching is not a simple task. It needs to be done well otherwise it will defeat its purpose. Therefore I strongly suggest that eventually you build your own. Having said that, I needed a quick and simple solution in order to move forward with the development of my application.

I found these solutions:

• HJCache
• SDWebImage
• Apple's LazyTableImages
• An adaption from Apple's LazyTableImages,MHLazyTableImages

I tried HJCache, but it didn't offer great scrolling performance when handling large images (1.5M+). For small images it worked great though. Tried both LazyTableImages as well but the integration wasn't simple.

Ultimately, I chose SDWebImage. The integration couldn't be simpler. Once you have linked the library to your project all you need to do is:

[cell.imageView setImageWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"http://www.domain.com/path/to/image.jpg"]
               placeholderImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"placeholder.png"]];

in your tableView:cellForRowAtIndexPath:.

Additionally:

• Works with custom cells as well
• Doesn't block the UI
• Offers great scrolling performance
• Image downloading and caching is seamless.