Dating: How to Share Photos With a Match Safely
You matched with someone and they want more photos. Send a few you choose, with the location removed, and only ones you would be fine seeing anywhere. A photo you send is out of your hands for good, whatever the app promises.
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What do I need to know?
- Share a selection, never the library. Pick the photos one by one. Do not hand over your phone or a shared album.
- Turn off location before you send. Photos taken on iPhone can carry where they were taken.
- Assume it can be saved. Screenshots, other phones and screen recordings all get around "disappearing" messages.
How do I send a photo without its location on iOS 27?
Apple's Personal Safety guide describes these steps.
- Open the photo in Photos.
- Tap the share button, then tap Options at the top.
- Turn off Location. The sheet shows Location Not Included.
- Send it.
To stop the camera saving location at all, go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera and tap Never. Our EXIF guide explains what else a photo file carries.
What should I check in the photo itself?
- Your street, front door or car number plate.
- Your workplace badge, school logo or uniform.
- Post, prescriptions or papers on a table in the background.
- The view from your window, which can be matched to a building.
- Photos already on your public profiles. The same image can be searched to find your other accounts.
Crop or cover anything you would not tell a stranger. Our guide on redacting part of a photo shows how with Markup.
Should I send intimate photos?
That is your choice. If you do, think about these first.
- Leave out your face and anything identifying, like tattoos or a distinctive room.
- Wait until you trust them. A match who pushes hard and fast is a warning sign.
- Keep the chat where it started until you know them. Dating apps can block and report.
- Never send to anyone who may be under 18.
If someone threatens to share your photos unless you pay or send more, do not pay. Our page on keeping sextortion evidence covers what to save and who to tell.
What if a photo gets shared without my consent?
StopNCII.org is free for adults in an intimate image. It makes a digital fingerprint of the image on your own device, so the image itself is not uploaded. Partner platforms use that fingerprint to find and block copies.
If you are in danger, call your local emergency number. Sharing intimate images without consent is a crime in many places, so it can be worth talking to a lawyer or the police.
Where do I keep the photos I chose?
Many people keep a small set of dating photos ready to send. In Camera Roll they sit next to everything else, and anyone with your passcode sees them. A vault keeps them apart, and you add them to a message only when you decide to.
What this doesn't protect against
Nothing on your phone controls a photo once the other person has it. Removing location does not hide what is in the picture. A vault protects the copies on your phone, not the ones you sent.
Do it with Cryptile
Keep your chosen photos in a Cryptile vault, encrypted under a key made from your pattern, with the in-app camera's GPS turned off. Cryptile Send, for sending encrypted photos, is coming and is not available yet.
Cryptile is free for up to 2 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos. Plus removes the limits for $19.99 a year (7-day free trial) or $39.99 once. The price is the same every day.