Cryptile

Photo Metadata Viewer and Remover (Free, In-Browser)

Updated

Runs entirely in your browser. Your photo never leaves your device.

This tool needs JavaScript. Turn it on for this page, or use the iPhone steps below.

Most phone photos carry hidden details: when they were taken, on which phone, and often exactly where. This tool shows those details in plain words and saves a copy without them. It runs on your device, and the page is not allowed to send anything anywhere.

Try Cryptile free: join the beta on TestFlight

What does this tool remove?

  • Location. GPS coordinates, altitude and the direction the camera faced.
  • Date and device. The date and time, the phone or camera model, the lens and the software.
  • Everything else in the file. XMP, IPTC captions, maker notes and the embedded thumbnail.

The copy is rebuilt from pixels, so only the picture survives. The tool then checks the new file for leftovers.

How do I use it?

  1. Tap Choose a photo and pick a JPEG, PNG or HEIC file.
  2. Read what the photo says about you. If it has a location, open it on a map to see.
  3. Pick JPEG or PNG and tap Save a copy without metadata.
  4. Send or post the clean copy, not the original.

Why can't it make a clean copy of my HEIC photo?

Any browser can read the metadata. To make a copy, the browser must also decode the picture. Safari on iPhone, iPad and Mac can; most other browsers cannot. Then use the iPhone steps below.

Can my iPhone do this without a tool?

Partly. Apple's Personal Safety User Guide gives these steps for recent iOS versions:

  • Per share. Tap the Share button, tap Options, then turn off Location.
  • Per photo. Open the photo, tap the More button, then Adjust Info, Adjust Location, No Location.
  • At the source. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera and tap Never.

These steps remove the location. The date and camera details stay. Use this tool when you want all of it gone.

Does the clean copy lose quality?

A little, as JPEG: the picture is compressed again at high quality. PNG keeps every pixel but makes a much larger file. Photos over about 16 megapixels are scaled down so iPhone Safari can handle them.

What this doesn't protect against

  • The picture itself. A street sign, a window view or a school logo can give away a place. Cover those with the photo redaction tool.
  • The original. Your Photos library and iCloud still keep the full original with its metadata.
  • Copies you already sent. Anyone who received the original still has its location.

Where should I keep the originals?

If the originals are private, keep them encrypted. Cryptile is an encrypted vault for iPhone and iPad. Its in-app camera has a GPS on/off switch, and every photo is encrypted with AES-256-GCM before it is saved. There is no account and no server.

Try Cryptile free: join the beta on TestFlight