Where it was taken. When. On what device. It's all written invisibly inside the file — and anyone you send it to can read it. MetaLume shows you what's inside, then saves a clean copy without it. Entirely on your Mac. Never in the cloud.
Every modern camera embeds an invisible record — called EXIF metadata — inside each image file. It never shows up on screen, it survives most sharing, and it takes about four seconds for anyone to extract.
For a typical iPhone photo, that record includes your GPS position to within a few meters, the precise second of capture, and the exact hardware that took it.
Pick a sample — or drop one of your own photos and watch its real hidden data appear. This page reads it the same way the app does: locally. Nothing you drop here leaves your machine.
Any JPG, PNG, HEIC, or TIFF. No account, no setup — the window is the whole interface.
Every hidden field, laid bare — GPS coordinates that open in Apple Maps in one click, timestamps, device signature, file-header signature check.
Export writes a scrubbed copy: GPS, device, owner and time fields are removed, and the original stays untouched. PNG and TIFF keep every pixel. JPEG and HEIC are re-encoded, and HEIC loses its HDR.
MetaLume borrows habits from forensic work. It checks each file's true signature, never writes over your original, and re-checks the clean copy before saving it, then puts all of it behind one button.
The only network traffic MetaLume generates is Apple's StoreKit connection to the App Store, used to show the price and to buy, restore or verify your unlock. No telemetry, no analytics, no cloud, no account — MetaLume never uploads your photos or anything about them.
// sandboxed · StoreKit onlyExports keep the original resolution. PNG and TIFF pixels are unchanged; JPEG and HEIC are re-encoded by Apple ImageIO, and HEIC HDR and depth data are not kept.
// native Apple ImageIO pipelineReads the file's true hex signature to flag impostors — like a PNG renamed .jpg — the moment you drop it in.
// header signature analysisThe clean copy's SHA-256 fingerprint, shown after every export, so you can prove which file you shared.
// SHA-256 export receiptExports lose the exact time and time zone along with the rest of the metadata. The copy is dated noon UTC on the day the photo was taken, or on the file's own date if the photo has no capture date, so it keeps its place in your library. The date is kept.
// dated noon UTC, capture dayBuilt in Swift for macOS — no Electron shell, no bundled interpreters. It opens before your coffee hits the desk.
// Mac App Store sandboxed
MetaLume explains what it finds. Every inspection names each field in plain language, shows which EXIF, TIFF or GPS record holds it, rates what it reveals about you, and checks the file's header signature, all on your own photos.
Phones and digital cameras typically write a hidden record in standardized EXIF and TIFF fields. Inspecting a real photo lists each tag MetaLume reads: its key path (for example {GPS}:Altitude), its value, a one-line explanation and a privacy-impact badge.
// GPSLatitude · DateTimeOriginal · LensModel · OwnerNameAn extension is just a label — the first bytes of a file tell the truth. MetaLume checks those magic bytes against the extension and flags a photo whose header doesn't match — a PNG renamed .jpg, for example.
// FF D8 FF → JPEG · 89 50 4E 47 → PNGA SHA-256 hash gives every file a unique fingerprint. Change a single byte and the fingerprint changes completely — the principle behind evidence integrity and chain of custody.
// 1 byte changed → 100% new fingerprintNo subscription, no tiers, no "premium plus". Inspecting is free forever; a single $1.99 purchase unlocks scrubbing for life.
When the job outgrows a single image — legal discovery, forensic casework, whole directories of mixed documents — our flagship MetaWrite takes over: 50+ formats, batch pipelines, full tag authoring, and court-ready compliance certificates.
Built by the same team on the same privacy rules: no analytics, no crash reporting, no accounts. Considerably bigger toolbox.
Explore MetaWrite ↗| Capability | MetaLume | MetaWrite |
|---|---|---|
| workload | Photos & images | Enterprise documents |
| formats | JPG · PNG · HEIC · TIFF | 50+ (PDF, DOCX, video, audio) |
| processing | Single drag & drop | Infinite batch directories |
| actions | Wipe / delete only | Add, edit & delete tags |
| integrations | Standalone app | Share & Photos extensions |
| compliance | No logs kept | PDF forensic certificates |
Free to download. Free to inspect forever. $1.99 — once — if you want the scrub button too.
Download on the Mac App Store