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7 Ways to View Image EXIF Metadata [Android, iOS, macOS, PC]

The best way to view photo image EXIF data is via specialized image analysis tools or digital forensics software, as they preserve the metadata while displaying all the hidden information, such as GPS location coordinates and file timestamps.

How to Accurately View EXIF Metadata of a Photo Image?

Here are the seven (7) EXIF data analysis and forensic tools you can use to view image metadata correctly.


1. ExifTool by Phil Harvey

Lightweight and Powerful

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ExifTool by Phil Harvey is a popular lightweight command line tool used by many forensic examiners and researchers.

You can view, edit and remove all metadata from images, videos and standard file documents, such as Word, Excel and PDFs.

For Windows users, drag and drop the file into the ExifTool application, and your command line application will automatically open (see the example above) and display all its metadata values.

For macOS and Linux users, after installation, type the following (replace <filename> with your target file)

ExifTool <filename>

Operating Systems: Windows (standalone), macOS and Linux

If you want all the powerful features of ExifTool yet have a graphical user interface, try ExifToolGUI, which is the skin for ExifTool.


2. IrfanView

Swiss-army style – All Image Viewer

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Since 1996, IrfanView has been a pioneer in opening user image files. In addition, it is the first to have animated GIF support and Multipage TIF support.

Besides having a powerful all-in-one image viewer that supports many different formats, users can install the additional plugin to have features such as metadata tools, effects, icons and many more.

Some of the IrfanView features include;

  • Show EXIF/IPTC/Comment text in Slideshow/Fullscreen
  • Batch conversion (with advanced image processing of all files)
  • Lossless JPG rotation, crop and EXIF date change
  • Multipage TIF editing
  • IPTC editing
  • Extract icons from EXE/DLL/ICLs

Operating Systems: Windows only


3. FotoForensics

Online service for professional investigators and researchers

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If you are comfortable uploading your image online (not sensitive/important) material, you should try FotoForensics.

The free online image analysis service supports most image formats, e.g. JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC and AVIF. In addition, it displays a wide array of metadata information views, such as Digest Analysis (hash values), Hidden Pixels, Strings and ICC+.

Operating Systems: Online service (Works with any device and operating systems)


4. Amped Authenticate

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Amped Authenticate is a commercial photo analysis and tampering detection software used commonly by law enforcement agencies.

Besides displaying complete EXIF data, the forensic image analysis tool can also detect tampered areas in images and determine the authenticity of photos and documents.

Amped Authenticate provides a robust set of tools for determining whether an image is an unaltered original, was created on a particular device or is the result of tampering with photo-editing software, which is essential for evidence admissibility.

Operating Systems: Windows only


5. Exif Metadata Editor Tool for iOS

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Exif Metadata Editor Tool is a free App Store application that allows iOS users to view and edit EXIF data.

You can easily edit EXIF data from images found in your Gallery album, and edit GPS location coordinates values (longitudes and latitudes).

The metadata editor tool also has a batch mode that allows users to edit multiple files simultaneously, which is a faster and more efficient way of editing EXIF and GPS data.

Operating Systems: iOS (iPhone, iPad)


6. EXIF Pro – ExifTool for Android

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EXIF PRO is a mobile app that extends the functionality of Phil Harvey’s ExifTool to the Android platform.

It supports editing multiple files at the same time. You can view and modify Exif, XMP, IPTC and other metadata of files (including images, audio and videos such as JPG, GIF, PNG, OGG and MP3)

The app supports several languages, such as English, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, etc

Operating Systems: Android


7. Forensically

Forensically-image-forensic-analysis-exifdata-metadata

Forensically is an online digital image forensics tool comprising multiple tools, such as clone detection, error level analysis, EXIF metadata extraction, etc.

The online image analysis service has an offline mode enabled to use it with no internet connectivity.

Some of the features include;

  • Enhancement – Histogram Equalization, Auto Contrast and Auto Contrast by Channel
  • Clone Detection – Minimal Similarity, Cluster size, Minimal detail, etc
  • Error Level Analysis – compares the original image to a recompressed version and makes manipulated regions stand out
  • Luminance Gradient – analyses the changes in brightness along the x and y-axis of the image

Operating Systems: Online service (Works with any device and operating systems)


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