diff --git a/WordPressUtils/src/main/java/org/wordpress/android/util/ServiceUtils.java b/WordPressUtils/src/main/java/org/wordpress/android/util/ServiceUtils.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6bcfde06b892
--- /dev/null
+++ b/WordPressUtils/src/main/java/org/wordpress/android/util/ServiceUtils.java
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package org.wordpress.android.util;
+
+import android.app.ActivityManager;
+import android.content.Context;
+
+public class ServiceUtils {
+    public static boolean isServiceRunning(Context context, Class<?> serviceClass) {
+        ActivityManager manager = (ActivityManager) context.getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
+        for (ActivityManager.RunningServiceInfo service : manager.getRunningServices(Integer.MAX_VALUE)) {
+            if (serviceClass.getName().equals(service.service.getClassName())) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/WordPressUtils/src/main/java/org/wordpress/android/util/UrlUtils.java b/WordPressUtils/src/main/java/org/wordpress/android/util/UrlUtils.java
index ec7f0144a757..6bf59b0998f2 100644
--- a/WordPressUtils/src/main/java/org/wordpress/android/util/UrlUtils.java
+++ b/WordPressUtils/src/main/java/org/wordpress/android/util/UrlUtils.java
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package org.wordpress.android.util;
 
 import android.net.Uri;
+import android.text.TextUtils;
 import android.webkit.MimeTypeMap;
 import android.webkit.URLUtil;
 
@@ -195,4 +196,14 @@ public static boolean isValidUrlAndHostNotNull(String url) {
         }
         return true;
     }
+
+    // returns true if the passed url is for an image
+    public static boolean isImageUrl(String url) {
+        if (TextUtils.isEmpty(url)) return false;
+
+        String cleanedUrl = removeQuery(url.toLowerCase());
+
+        return cleanedUrl.endsWith("jpg") || cleanedUrl.endsWith("jpeg") ||
+                cleanedUrl.endsWith("gif") || cleanedUrl.endsWith("png");
+    }
 }