Metadata Differences Between iPhone and Android Photos

People say “phone photo metadata” as if iOS and Android wrote the same file. They do not. Apple switched the Camera app to HEIC with iOS 11 in 2017: a HEIF container, typically smaller than JPEG, with EXIF carried in boxes rather than in a JPEG APP1 segment. Orientation, depth, and Apple’s MakerNote live in that structure. Convert-naively and you get rotated pixels or a JPEG that still inherited some tags and lost others. Android’s common path is JPEG via Camera2 / OEM camera apps, with a MakerNote whose layout depends on Samsung, Xiaomi, Google, or whoever shipped the firmware. Pixel Ultra HDR adds a gain-map in XMP. None of that is a reason to invent a single “mobile EXIF” checklist. It is a reason to look at the file you actually have.

MetadataWipe rebuilds JPEG and PNG in the browser. It does not open HEIC. The iPhone path is: export or re-save as JPEG (Most Compatible, Share as JPEG, or Photos export), then strip. The Android path is often already JPEG — still strip, because OEM MakerNotes and GPSInfo are still there. A general field list lives on what metadata your phone camera records. HEIC-specific handling is on strip EXIF data from HEIC. This page is the split between the two camera stacks.

iPhone: HEIC, Apple MakerNotes, Live Photos

HEIC is not “JPEG with a new extension.” Metadata is stored in the HEIF/ISOBMFF container. Apps that only know how to parse JPEG APP1 will report “no EXIF” on a HEIC file that is full of tags — a false all-clear. Other apps parse HEIC and show GPS, DateTimeOriginal, Make=Apple, and a software version string that tracks iOS. Apple’s MakerNote has grown across iOS releases. Publicly discussed fields include HDR pipeline type, a Live Photo video index, a ContentIdentifier UUID pairing still and motion, and an AccelerationVector (how the phone was tilted). Those are not on a typical Samsung JPEG. If you convert HEIC to JPEG with a tool that copies EXIF, the JPEG may still carry GPS and a remnant MakerNote. Convert, then wipe the JPEG you will send, then verify.

iOS sharing sometimes offers to strip location (Mail has had a location-strip option; some share sheets follow the Photos privacy switch). That is GPSInfo, not a full metadata diet. MakerNote, timestamps, and device model can remain. Turning off Location Services for Camera stops new GPS. It does not rewrite last month’s HEICs.

Android: JPEG, OEM MakerNotes, Motion Photos

A Pixel, a Galaxy, and a cheap unbranded Android do not write identical headers. Standard EXIF (Make, Model, DateTimeOriginal, GPS IFD) is the common layer. MakerNotes are where OEMs stash build fingerprints, camera-app versions, and occasionally secondary location-ish scene data. A stripper that only deletes the GPS IFD can leave that blob. Samsung’s notes are not Apple’s notes; do not assume an iPhone-oriented cleaner understood a Galaxy file.

Android 9 added wider HEIC decode, but everyday capture is still JPEG on most devices. When an OEM does write HEIC or Ultra HDR JPEG_R, you have the same conversion problem as iOS: the file you think is “a photo” may have XMP gain maps and extra boxes. Export a plain JPEG if the recipient needs one, then wipe that JPEG.

Motion Photos embed video in the JPEG. Sharing the file as a document can send the embedded clip. A canvas wipe of the still may not be how you wanted to handle the motion part. Export a still-only JPEG from the vendor’s “save as still” control when you need a single cleaned image.

How to clean each stack with MetadataWipe

1. iPhone: In Settings, Most Compatible yields JPEG from Camera going forward. For existing HEIC, export JPEG from Photos or Files. Confirm the new file opens as JPEG. Then drop it on the MetadataWipe homepage tool.
2. Android: Drop the Camera JPEG if the panel can read it. If the phone wrote HEIC, convert first. If Ultra HDR causes a viewer to choke, save a baseline JPEG from the OEM editor, then wipe.
3. Read the panel before stripping. Note GPS, software version, and any serial-like field. Apple vs Samsung will not look the same. That is expected.
4. Strip and re-open the download. If GPS remains, the file you dropped was not the file you thought (wrong share sheet original).
5. Do not zip a .MOV Live Photo companion with a cleaned still unless you meant to send motion. The UUID can still associate them on a Mac that imports both.

Mistakes that mix the two ecosystems

Checking “Get Info” on a HEIC in an old Windows build and concluding there is no metadata. The OS did not parse the boxes. Use a viewer that understands HEIC, or convert then check the JPEG.

Wiping a JPEG email attachment that was already re-encoded by iOS Mail, then assuming the HEIC in iCloud Photos is clean. iCloud still has the original.

Treating Android “shared as a file” the same as iOS AirDrop original. AirDrop can send full originals. Some Android share targets re-encode. Verify the bytes you still have.

Leaving a Live Photo pair in a folder after wiping the still. The movie half still exists.

Related guides

See also:

• What metadata your phone camera records
• Strip EXIF data from HEIC