Varies by feature
Metadata and authorship
Record authorship, rate photos and understand GPS, EXIF, IPTC and XMP.
Prerequisites
- Media library with read/write permission
- iOS 27 and a build with a compatible SDK to sync ratings with the Photos catalog
Author and copyright
In Settings → Capture and files → Authorship, enter author and copyright. Values stay on the device and apply to future captures; empty fields add no authorship. Changing these options does not change existing photos.
Rating from 0 to 5 stars
Open the photo and tap Information. Choose a rating; the crossed-out star explicitly writes zero. The interface confirms only after saving and reports permission or storage failures.
On iOS 27 with a compatible SDK, the transaction updates the Photos catalog and image XMP. Catalog reading, including zero, respects changes made in Photos. On other platforms, the thumbnail uses the rating read from the image.
- Zero means unrated and displays no indicator on the thumbnail.
- In the grid, tap Select or press and hold a thumbnail to apply the same rating to multiple photos. Canceling keeps completed writes; failures and pending items remain selected.
- Old ratings stored only in XMP need to be selected again to enter the catalog; reading does not automatically migrate them.
- On iOS, editing preserves the original. For RAW, the rating is stored in the rendered representation and the original DNG is kept.
Where data is written
EXIF records photographic information such as ISO, exposure, lens and GPS. IPTC/XMP records authorship and keywords; xmp:Rating receives a score from 0 to 5. The Komorebi recipe records effects and capture mode information.
JPEG uses APP13 segments for IPTC and APP1 for XMP. TIFF/DNG uses IFD0 fields without moving RAW data. HEIF uses ImageIO serialization. Destination apps may read only some fields or remove them on export.
GPS, maps and sharing
The location option affects new captures and requires permission; turning it off does not remove coordinates from older photos. The map uses external OpenStreetMap tiles centered on the photo's location. EXIF Frame opens an external service in a WebView.
Before sharing, check the actual exported file, including location, author, rights and keywords. A name or tag may also reveal scene context.