2012-09-25

iOS6 file upload strips exif data?

One of the annoying things with iOS was that you could not do file uploads in web pages.

Thankfully iOS6 fixes this, at least in part, by allowing upload of images. This is excellent news. We can now use the web based image upload on photo sites.

Except! It appears that iOS6 strips all the useful exif data from the image - even the timestamp.

If, instead, you email the file, it contains loads of useful exif data including camera make and model (Apple, iPhone 5), aperture, focal length, exposure, etc. It even includes the location data in a GPS tag block.

So, nice new feature, totally bloody useless, thanks Apple!

5 comments:

  1. No doubt for your security. I'll bet there isn't a "stop treating me like a moron" configuration option either.

    ReplyDelete
  2. If Apple had a "stop treating me like a moron" option their revenue stream would collapse!

    ReplyDelete
  3. They have added an all new privacy settings section for handling stuff like this, there's even a photos section within those privacy settings but this only controls which applications can access your photos.

    A simple option within this section to say which exif data to keep/remove when uploading photos (via an application or safari) would solve all of this, even if the default was idiot proof "strip all data"!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I strongly suspect this is down to Apple trying to stay on the good side of the uneducated masses that don't understand what exif data contains. Just think what would go through these peoples heads if they heard that "The iPhone saves tracking data to photos that you upload to sharing sites." The problem with this functionality that I actually find quite useful is that most people dont understand it. For example I know someone who was claiming the mobile phone companies have a conspiracy that their systems track your mobile wherever it is. I then tried to explain that without this info you wouldn't be able to make phone calls. The guy took ages to take this very simple concept in.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anyone who strips EXIF data should be shot. BBC etc. are very good at doing this and conveniently creating orphan works out on the net.

    ReplyDelete

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