diff --git a/Signal/src/ViewControllers/GifPicker/GifPickerCell.swift b/Signal/src/ViewControllers/GifPicker/GifPickerCell.swift
index a0faeeace..cca501de7 100644
--- a/Signal/src/ViewControllers/GifPicker/GifPickerCell.swift
+++ b/Signal/src/ViewControllers/GifPicker/GifPickerCell.swift
@@ -3,11 +3,16 @@
 //
 
 import Foundation
+import PromiseKit
 
 class GifPickerCell: UICollectionViewCell {
     let TAG = "[GifPickerCell]"
 
     // MARK: Properties
+    enum GifPickerCellError: Error {
+        case assertionError(description: String)
+        case fetchFailure
+    }
 
     var imageInfo: GiphyImageInfo? {
         didSet {
@@ -35,6 +40,9 @@ class GifPickerCell: UICollectionViewCell {
     var animatedAsset: GiphyAsset?
     var imageView: YYAnimatedImageView?
 
+    // As another bandwidth saving measure, we only fetch the full sized GIF when the user selects it.
+    private var renditionForSending: GiphyRendition?
+
     // MARK: Initializers
 
     deinit {
@@ -93,6 +101,16 @@ class GifPickerCell: UICollectionViewCell {
             clearAssetRequests()
             return
         }
+
+        // Record high quality animated rendition, but to save bandwidth, don't start downloading
+        // until it's selected.
+        guard let highQualityAnimatedRendition = imageInfo.pickHighQualityAnimatedRendition() else {
+            Logger.warn("\(TAG) could not pick gif rendition: \(imageInfo.giphyId)")
+            clearAssetRequests()
+            return
+        }
+        self.renditionForSending = highQualityAnimatedRendition
+
         // The Giphy API returns a slew of "renditions" for a given image. 
         // It's critical that we carefully "pick" the best rendition to use.
         guard let animatedRendition = imageInfo.pickAnimatedRendition() else {
@@ -190,6 +208,31 @@ class GifPickerCell: UICollectionViewCell {
         self.backgroundColor = nil
     }
 
+    public func fetchRenditionForSending() -> Promise<GiphyAsset> {
+        guard let renditionForSending = self.renditionForSending else {
+            owsFail("\(TAG) renditionForSending was unexpectedly nil")
+            return Promise(error: GifPickerCellError.assertionError(description: "renditionForSending was unexpectedly nil"))
+        }
+
+        let (promise, fulfill, reject) = Promise<GiphyAsset>.pending()
+
+        // We don't retain a handle on the asset request, since there will only ever
+        // be one selected asset, and we never want to cancel it.
+        _ = GiphyDownloader.sharedInstance.requestAsset(rendition: renditionForSending,
+                                                    priority: .high,
+                                                    success: { _, asset in
+                                                        fulfill(asset)
+        },
+                                                    failure: { _ in
+                                                        // TODO GiphyDownloader API shoudl pass through a useful failing error
+                                                        // so we can pass it through here
+                                                        reject(GifPickerCellError.fetchFailure)
+
+        })
+
+        return promise
+    }
+
     private func clearViewState() {
         imageView?.image = nil
         self.backgroundColor = UIColor(white:0.95, alpha:1.0)
diff --git a/Signal/src/ViewControllers/GifPicker/GifPickerViewController.swift b/Signal/src/ViewControllers/GifPicker/GifPickerViewController.swift
index 25cb0fe37..ad0d60a77 100644
--- a/Signal/src/ViewControllers/GifPicker/GifPickerViewController.swift
+++ b/Signal/src/ViewControllers/GifPicker/GifPickerViewController.swift
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ class GifPickerViewController: OWSViewController, UISearchBarDelegate, UICollect
 
     public weak var delegate: GifPickerViewControllerDelegate?
 
-    var thread: TSThread?
-    var messageSender: MessageSender?
+    let thread: TSThread
+    let messageSender: MessageSender
 
     let searchBar: UISearchBar
     let layout: GifPickerLayout
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class GifPickerViewController: OWSViewController, UISearchBarDelegate, UICollect
     var noResultsView: UILabel?
     var searchErrorView: UILabel?
     var activityIndicator: UIActivityIndicatorView?
-
+    var selectedCell: UICollectionViewCell?
     var imageInfos = [GiphyImageInfo]()
 
     var reachability: Reachability?
@@ -53,15 +53,7 @@ class GifPickerViewController: OWSViewController, UISearchBarDelegate, UICollect
 
     @available(*, unavailable, message:"use other constructor instead.")
     required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
-        self.thread = nil
-        self.messageSender = nil
-
-        self.searchBar = UISearchBar()
-        self.layout = GifPickerLayout()
-        self.collectionView = UICollectionView(frame: CGRect.zero, collectionViewLayout: self.layout)
-
-        super.init(coder: aDecoder)
-        owsFail("\(self.TAG) invalid constructor")
+        fatalError("\(#function) is unimplemented.")
     }
 
     required init(thread: TSThread, messageSender: MessageSender) {
@@ -295,36 +287,36 @@ class GifPickerViewController: OWSViewController, UISearchBarDelegate, UICollect
     // MARK: - UICollectionViewDelegate
 
     public func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, didSelectItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
+
         guard let cell = collectionView.cellForItem(at: indexPath) as? GifPickerCell else {
             owsFail("\(TAG) unexpected cell.")
             return
         }
-        guard let asset = cell.animatedAsset else {
-            Logger.info("\(TAG) unload cell selected.")
-            return
-        }
-        let filePath = asset.filePath
-        guard let dataSource = DataSourcePath.dataSource(withFilePath: filePath) else {
-            owsFail("\(TAG) couldn't load asset.")
-            return
-        }
-        let attachment = SignalAttachment(dataSource: dataSource, dataUTI: asset.rendition.utiType)
-        guard let thread = thread else {
-            owsFail("\(TAG) Missing thread.")
-            return
-        }
-        guard let messageSender = messageSender else {
-            owsFail("\(TAG) Missing messageSender.")
+
+        guard self.selectedCell == nil else {
+            owsFail("\(TAG) Already selected cell")
             return
         }
+        self.selectedCell = cell
+
+        // TODO disable collection view scroll/selection
+        // TODO show loading
+        cell.fetchRenditionForSending().then { (asset: GiphyAsset) -> Void in
+            let filePath = asset.filePath
+            guard let dataSource = DataSourcePath.dataSource(withFilePath: filePath) else {
+                owsFail("\(self.TAG) couldn't load asset.")
+                return
+            }
+            let attachment = SignalAttachment(dataSource: dataSource, dataUTI: asset.rendition.utiType)
 
-        self.delegate?.gifPickerWillSend()
+            self.delegate?.gifPickerWillSend()
 
-        let outgoingMessage = ThreadUtil.sendMessage(with: attachment, in: thread, messageSender: messageSender)
+            let outgoingMessage = ThreadUtil.sendMessage(with: attachment, in: self.thread, messageSender: self.messageSender)
 
-        self.delegate?.gifPickerDidSend(outgoingMessage: outgoingMessage)
+            self.delegate?.gifPickerDidSend(outgoingMessage: outgoingMessage)
 
-        dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
+            self.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
+        }.retainUntilComplete()
     }
 
     public func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, willDisplay cell: UICollectionViewCell, forItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
diff --git a/Signal/src/network/GiphyAPI.swift b/Signal/src/network/GiphyAPI.swift
index aa552da8a..351fae073 100644
--- a/Signal/src/network/GiphyAPI.swift
+++ b/Signal/src/network/GiphyAPI.swift
@@ -89,8 +89,9 @@ enum GiphyFormat {
 
     // TODO: We may need to tweak these constants.
     let kMaxDimension = UInt(618)
-    let kMinDimension = UInt(101)
-    let kMaxFileSize = UInt(3 * 1024 * 1024)
+    let kMinDimension = UInt(60)
+    let kPreferedPreviewFileSize = UInt(256 * 1024)
+    let kPreferedSendingFileSize = UInt(3 * 1024 * 1024)
 
     private enum PickingStrategy {
         case smallerIsBetter, largerIsBetter
@@ -105,20 +106,33 @@ enum GiphyFormat {
 
     public func pickStillRendition() -> GiphyRendition? {
         // Stills are just temporary placeholders, so use the smallest still possible.
-        return pickRendition(isStill:true, pickingStrategy:.smallerIsBetter, maxFileSize:kMaxFileSize)
+        return pickRendition(isStill:true, pickingStrategy:.smallerIsBetter, maxFileSize:kPreferedPreviewFileSize)
     }
 
     public func pickAnimatedRendition() -> GiphyRendition? {
         // Try to pick a small file...
-        if let rendition = pickRendition(isStill:false, pickingStrategy:.largerIsBetter, maxFileSize:kMaxFileSize) {
+        if let rendition = pickRendition(isStill:false, pickingStrategy:.largerIsBetter, maxFileSize:kPreferedPreviewFileSize) {
             return rendition
         }
         // ...but gradually relax the file restriction...
-        if let rendition = pickRendition(isStill:false, pickingStrategy:.smallerIsBetter, maxFileSize:kMaxFileSize * 2) {
+        if let rendition = pickRendition(isStill:false, pickingStrategy:.smallerIsBetter, maxFileSize:kPreferedPreviewFileSize * 2) {
             return rendition
         }
         // ...and relax even more until we find an animated rendition.
-        return pickRendition(isStill:false, pickingStrategy:.smallerIsBetter, maxFileSize:kMaxFileSize * 3)
+        return pickRendition(isStill:false, pickingStrategy:.smallerIsBetter, maxFileSize:kPreferedPreviewFileSize * 3)
+    }
+
+    public func pickHighQualityAnimatedRendition() -> GiphyRendition? {
+        // Try to pick a small file...
+        if let rendition = pickRendition(isStill:false, pickingStrategy:.largerIsBetter, maxFileSize:kPreferedSendingFileSize) {
+            return rendition
+        }
+        // ...but gradually relax the file restriction...
+        if let rendition = pickRendition(isStill:false, pickingStrategy:.smallerIsBetter, maxFileSize:kPreferedSendingFileSize * 2) {
+            return rendition
+        }
+        // ...and relax even more until we find an animated rendition.
+        return pickRendition(isStill:false, pickingStrategy:.smallerIsBetter, maxFileSize:kPreferedSendingFileSize * 3)
     }
 
     // Picking a rendition must be done very carefully.