Pooled Social Post Capture for Editable Multi-Image Sessions

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Solution Overview

Problem

Users face difficulties in editing multiple images or videos on mobile devices due to limited resources, and there is a risk of losing captured content when applications are terminated accidentally or by the device.

Innovation Solution

A social network post pooling system allows users to capture and edit multiple image data items in one session, enabling publishing as ephemeral messages and saving to local memory, with the option to resume editing after premature termination.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If users capture and edit multiple images on mobile devices, then the functionality and user experience are improved, but the device resources are overwhelmed and editing becomes difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveimage editing capabilityVSAvoiddevice resource consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a server as an intermediary between the mobile device and the image editing processing. The server receives image data from the mobile device, performs the computationally intensive editing operations, and returns the edited images. This mediator approach allows the mobile device to provide editing functionality without being overwhelmed by resource consumption, as the heavy processing is offloaded to the server infrastructure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Productivity

If users edit multiple images in one session, then productivity is improved, but the risk of losing captured content increases when applications are terminated

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebatch editing efficiencyVSAvoidcontent preservation

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements automatic saving functionality that continuously stores edited image data and processing state to persistent storage during the editing session. This preliminary action ensures that even if the application is accidentally terminated or the device crashes, the captured content and editing progress are preserved and can be resumed later, eliminating the risk of data loss associated with batch editing operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If the application saves edited images frequently, then content preservation is improved, but the device energy consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata persistenceVSAvoidmobile device energy consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The server acts as an intermediary for data persistence, receiving and storing image data and editing state information. Instead of requiring frequent writes to the mobile device's local storage system (which consumes energy), the application communicates with the server that handles data persistence. This approach maintains data reliability while reducing the energy burden on the mobile device, as the server infrastructure is optimized for data storage and retrieval operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS20260046339A1Social network pooled post capture

Publication Date: 2026.02.12 SNAP INC

AI summary

A social network image pool system can capture one or more image data items (e.g., image, video) in a temporary persistent post pool. The post pool enables for efficient capture of multiple image data items for publishing in a manner that allows multiple images data items to be captured while preserving the editability of the multiple items before they are published to a social network site.