What your phone saves inside every photo
Location, phone model, time and sometimes a hidden video clip. What iPhone, Pixel and Samsung photos carry, and how to share them without it.
A photo file holds more than the picture. Most phones also save:
- Location: GPS coordinates, if the camera may use your location.
- Time: the date and time, often with the time zone.
- Device: the make and model, the lens, the camera settings and the software version.
- Edits: the apps that edited the photo, and when.
Some phones add more.
iPhone
- Photos are saved as HEIC, or as JPEG if you chose Most Compatible, with the data above.
- A Live Photo is a photo with a short video, about three seconds with sound, stored next to it. When you share it as a Live Photo, the video goes too.
Google Pixel
- Motion Photos: a short video stored inside the same JPEG file, after the picture. Apps that show only the picture don’t play it, but it travels with the file.
- Content Credentials: the Pixel 10 adds them to every JPEG photo its camera takes, and Google Photos can add them when you edit. They record the device, the apps and the edits, including AI edits.
- Ultra HDR: extra data that makes the photo brighter on HDR screens. It is part of how the picture displays, so PhotoCleanr keeps it.
Samsung Galaxy
- Motion photos: as on Pixel, a short video inside the photo file, in JPEG and HEIC photos.
- Samsung’s own data: after the picture, Samsung phones can add data of their own, such as the time in UTC and the country code of the mobile network.
- Galaxy AI edits: photos changed with its generative tools can carry a note in the file that AI was used.
Sharing without it
Social networks usually remove much of this when you upload, but files you send by email, in cloud folders or as a document in a messaging app arrive with everything in them. The share options on iPhone and Samsung can leave out the location (how); the rest stays.
PhotoCleanr removes the location, the device details, the edit history, Content Credentials and the video of a motion photo in one step, and doesn’t re-encode the picture. It keeps the rotation, the colour profile, the HDR data and the author and copyright information it recognises. The free report shows what is in each photo before you decide.