Photo Investigator: GPS & EXIF

Name: Photo Investigator: GPS & EXIF
Rating: 4.4 (1451 reviews)
Author: Daniel Anderson

Edit Metadata + Detect AI Art

Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad

1.5K Ratings
Age Rating

4+
Years
Category

Photo & Video
Developer

Daniel Anderson
Language

EN
+ 22 More
Size

77.4
MB

Photos lie now. Photo Investigator catches the fakes. It also shows you every detail your iPhone secretly records about you. Your photos know more than you think. Every image your iPhone takes secretly stores GPS coordinates, timestamps, and device details. And in the age of AI, it stores fingerprints that reveal whether the picture came from a camera or a machine. Photo Investigator shows you exactly what's hidden, and gives you the tools to remove what you don't want to share. NEW IN 8.1: AI IMAGE DETECTION Photo Investigator now flags AI-generated images using on-device metadata signals. No image leaves your phone. We check three layers: • C2PA Content Credentials: the signed provenance standard backed by Adobe, Microsoft, and others. When an AI tool signs an image cryptographically, we read the manifest and surface it. • XMP DigitalSourceType: the field that conforming AI generators write to declare origin (trainedAlgorithmicMedia). Used by Instagram, Facebook, and X for their "Made with AI" labels. • EXIF fingerprints: the gaps real cameras don't have. Authentic photos carry focal length, lens model, ISO, and a shutter timestamp. AI-generated images often don't, and some generators name themselves in the CreatorTool field. No signal is perfect. Screenshots and recompression erase a lot, but for unmodified AI exports the signals are usually there. We put them in front of you, on the metadata you already trust. THE PRIVACY TOOLS • Strip GPS: remove precise coordinates, altitude, and compass direction before sharing • Clear timestamps, device details, copyright, and creator fields • See at a glance whether a photo reveals where you live, work, or travel • Use the Photos editing extension to clean metadata without leaving Photos • Templates for one-tap presets across an entire photo selection • Edit confirmation: review every change before it's saved THE DEEPEST METADATA VIEWER ON iOS • Every EXIF, IPTC, and XMP field in one place: nothing hidden from you • GPS coordinates, altitude, direction, and UTC capture time • Camera make, model, lens, focal length, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, color space • IPTC: creator, copyright, description, keywords, credit, source • XMP: edit history, ratings, Content Credentials, AI provenance • Video: codec, resolution, frame rate, HDR data, plus audio export • Extended attributes (xattr): which app created the file, original filename, timezone, system-level fields iOS doesn't surface anywhere else • Depth maps, Live Photo flags, HDR flags, WebP hidden metadata, RAW support INSPECT FROM ANYWHERE • Photos editing extension: review and edit metadata without leaving Photos • Share sheet extension: inspect any file's metadata from Messages, Files, or any app • Open any location instantly in Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze, or Maps.me • Browse your full photo and video library with metadata visible at a glance MADE FOR • Privacy-conscious users who share photos online and want to know what they're broadcasting • Journalists and investigators verifying image authenticity and provenance • Photographers managing camera settings, copyright, and editorial metadata • Researchers and forensic analysts who need a full technical record, including xattr and C2PA Content Credentials • Anyone curious about what their phone quietly records every time they tap the shutter THE MAP Every geotagged photo in your library plotted on a satellite map. Tap any pin to open the photo and its metadata. The arrow shows which way the camera was pointing. Note: viewing all metadata is free. Editing and removing metadata requires a one-time in-app purchase. In the App Store since 2012. Built and maintained by a single developer who cares about your privacy.

Ratings & Reviews

4.4

out of 5

1.5K Ratings

Great tool
12/03/2021
azblatino
It’s a great, easy to use tool to check the metadata on photos and to remove it. I use it to make sure photos I’ve taken at private locations don’t have location data that could be a safety concern if the photo is shared or posted online. (Ex: where one’s kids go to school, your home address follows by a social media post that you’re out of town, etc). It actually helped me figure out that my partner was sending me pics of him supposedly at work, but the app helped me that the photo was taken on a different day. Even when the metadata is wiped, the absence of data can tell you that the sender scrubbed the pic before sending it. Very helpful. It may also show you the file name of the photo as the sender as it saved on their device. Ex: “fake profile pic”, “found online-not me,” etc.
Great tool
12/03/2021
azblatino

It’s a great, easy to use tool to check the metadata on photos and to remove it. I use it to make sure photos I’ve taken at private locations don’t have location data that could be a safety concern if the photo is shared or posted online. (Ex: where one’s kids go to school, your home address follows by a social media post that you’re out of town, etc). It actually helped me figure out that my partner was sending me pics of him supposedly at work, but the app helped me that the photo was taken on a different day. Even when the metadata is wiped, the absence of data can tell you that the sender scrubbed the pic before sending it. Very helpful. It may also show you the file name of the photo as the sender as it saved on their device. Ex: “fake profile pic”, “found online-not me,” etc.
I love this app. Convenient, fast access to seeing metadata info
06/24/2020
peanut butter space monkey
Download the app and stick it somewhere out of sight you’ll never need the actual app icon. After you download it, go to the photos app, select a photo, tap on the share button on the bottom left corner (a square with an upward arrow coming out of it). Scroll down all the way to “edit actions” and tap the green plus button to the left of “investigate” with the magnifying glass logo (this app). This moves access to the app to the top so you don’t need to scroll to get to it. Now all you have to do to check the file format, size, other metadata is tap this share button and tap investigate. So easy. There’s a shortcut someone shared but takes way more steps. This is a shorter cut than the shortcut. Couldn’t ask for more. I shoot RAW with the CameraPro app and use Lightroom and often need to double check file format or size. Thank you Photo Investigator!!!
I love this app. Convenient, fast access to seeing metadata info
06/24/2020
peanut butter space monkey

Download the app and stick it somewhere out of sight you’ll never need the actual app icon. After you download it, go to the photos app, select a photo, tap on the share button on the bottom left corner (a square with an upward arrow coming out of it). Scroll down all the way to “edit actions” and tap the green plus button to the left of “investigate” with the magnifying glass logo (this app). This moves access to the app to the top so you don’t need to scroll to get to it. Now all you have to do to check the file format, size, other metadata is tap this share button and tap investigate. So easy. There’s a shortcut someone shared but takes way more steps. This is a shorter cut than the shortcut. Couldn’t ask for more. I shoot RAW with the CameraPro app and use Lightroom and often need to double check file format or size. Thank you Photo Investigator!!!
This App Is Long In The Tooth, but useable
04/23/2018
Chuml1
I never do this, but there’s no way through Daniel’s website to submit feedback or ask questions. So: Are there any planned updates for Investigator? I love this app and it has been REALLY helpful in my many projects to convert VHS Home movies and have them placed in my library correctly, ditto for scanned pictures. However, its becoming obvious that the last update was a year ago. Small, obvious, and most annoying example: I can’t split screen investigator on the 12.9” iPad Pro. I have a small list of other things here that aren’t broken, they just aren’t there because of the age of the app. I will happily update my review upon receiving your response. (For reference: I have purchased the in-app “pro” upgrade)

Developer Response
FYI: There have been many updates since this review :)Thank you!
This App Is Long In The Tooth, but useable
04/23/2018
Chuml1

I never do this, but there’s no way through Daniel’s website to submit feedback or ask questions. So: Are there any planned updates for Investigator? I love this app and it has been REALLY helpful in my many projects to convert VHS Home movies and have them placed in my library correctly, ditto for scanned pictures. However, its becoming obvious that the last update was a year ago. Small, obvious, and most annoying example: I can’t split screen investigator on the 12.9” iPad Pro. I have a small list of other things here that aren’t broken, they just aren’t there because of the age of the app. I will happily update my review upon receiving your response. (For reference: I have purchased the in-app “pro” upgrade)
Developer Response 02/15/2019
FYI: There have been many updates since this review :)Thank you!
Indispensable - I use this every day!
Jul 1
Syclone Josh
This utlilty beats any other EXIF app I've tried and I've tried about 20 of the best I could find! (Metapho, View EXIF, PhotoMeta, EXIF Wizard Pro, etc) This is the only one to truly show all the stuff! I absolutely CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT. Trust me, THIS IS THE ONE YOU WANT. Also - buy the upgrade. I did just to help encourage this developer to keep this app going for years to come because I can’t imagine not having it.10Y Update: I’ve had this app over 10 years now! Still use it every day.
Indispensable - I use this every day!
Jul 1
Syclone Josh

This utlilty beats any other EXIF app I've tried and I've tried about 20 of the best I could find! (Metapho, View EXIF, PhotoMeta, EXIF Wizard Pro, etc) This is the only one to truly show all the stuff! I absolutely CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT. Trust me, THIS IS THE ONE YOU WANT. Also - buy the upgrade. I did just to help encourage this developer to keep this app going for years to come because I can’t imagine not having it.10Y Update: I’ve had this app over 10 years now! Still use it every day.

Version 8.1.1 + AI detection, using C2PA metadata and other common metadata Bug fixes and stability improvements - Fixed multiple selection in the image picker for bulk editing - Fixed a crash when viewing or editing photos with certain timezone metadata - Fixed a crash in the analog clock metadata display - Fixed video playback being hijacked by Photo Investigator in Photos and Files apps Thank you for using Photo Investigator!

Version 8.1.1 Jun 23

Data Not Linked to You

The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Usage Data
- Diagnostics

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Accessibility

Information

Seller: Daniel Anderson
Size: 77.4 MB
Category: Photo & Video
Compatibility: Requires iOS 16.0 or later.

iPhone
Requires iOS 16.0 or later.

iPad
Requires iPadOS 16.0 or later.

Mac
Requires macOS 13.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.

Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
Languages: English and 22 more

English, Arabic, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian Bokmål, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish
Age Rating: 4+

4+

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In-App Purchases: Yes

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