While it appears that we will still be able to use google drive to host images for websites (when load speed is less of an issue than users being able to add things when they do not know any html). I have been using google apps scripts to generate JSON files that are then loaded to build webpages (This way I could have people add images to a folder, and lines on a spreadsheet and the page builds automatically). I noticed a couple of other people asking questions about this, so it is not only going to effect me. However with Google ending their 'host' feature in August, has anyone come up with a solution other than just make a small server that grabs the JSON file occasionally and hosts it in a way that allows cross domain access?
Well I found a work around inside google apps script for anyone interested. There is one large problem with it. It does not work on any safari browsers due to a known, but triaged bug. (https://code.google.com/p/google-apps-script-issues/issues/detail?id=3226) This is something I should have thought of before, as I have used it as a trick in the past:
function doGet() {
var myFile = DriveApp.getFileById('<FILE_ID>');
var str = myFile.getBlob().getDataAsString();
return ContentService.createTextOutput(str).setMimeType(ContentService.MimeType.JSON);
}
Once you have your id set up go to Publish->Deploy as Web App, set things to Execute as me, and anyone even anonymous can access. The URL https://script.google.com/macros/s//exec will allow cross domain grabs at this point.
This, I believe, will have a quota that could in theory be overwhelmed, but you can always choose to pay for more access. In my case I will just add direct access to the JSON generated by the original script so I will not hit google drive quotas, but this should work fine for any reasonably small project that does not need Safari access...