Getting rather frustrated that the latest Android strips location EXIF from the web file picker.

[dan@m.danq.me]

@Edent @openbenches Much rage!

I suppose there's some value in adding an optional <geolocation> element or similar to the app anyway (I don't know about others, but I do most of my submissions while sat on the bench in question!). But I appreciate this is still a loss in quality.

Feels like this could be easily fixed by Google adding a toast popup that says "Location and other metadata was removed before uploading" with an "undo" button to re-try without that, maybe.

Anyway - for now: much rage.

[edent@mastodon.social]

@dan Yeah, we can ask for GPS but, as you say, people are rarely in the same place where they took the photo.

[insertuser@en.osm.town]

@Edent @openbenches is this affecting non-Google camera roll backup too?

Mine still seems to get location but I don't know if it's because I'm on an old version.

[edent@mastodon.social]

@InsertUser I don't know. It seems to be a problem on the defaults.

[edent@mastodon.social]

@dracos just tried this photo which has geolocation - looks like FMS can't see the EXIF.

[sam@chven.us]

it seems that in my tests with uploading anything through the browser or an app where it uses the file picker, then the exif location data is removed. When I open the photo with exif location data in my gallery app (Fossify Gallery on Pixel 8 with grapheneos) and then share that to Termux (like I mentioned in my useless comment), then it's preserved. I wonder if there's a way to share to the openbenches webapp similarly and just skip the file picker?

[edent@mastodon.social]

Anyway, if you think the web should have a way to get the *full* photo a user uploaded - including geolocation metadata - please leave a reaction on this request https://github.com/whatwg/html/issues/11724#issuecomment-4192228562

[edent@mastodon.social]

@LaChasseuse you have to click on the link to GitHub and leave the reaction there.

[derickr@phpc.social]

@Edent @openbenches That seems to be talking about Android 14 already. But I don't think it's the Android *OS* that does the stripping, as even with Android 15 I managed to add https://openbenches.org/bench/42085

Though I'm on a Fairphone 5 (with stock Android), and I used Firefox.

Would you like me to try Chrome to see if that's the problem?

[edent@mastodon.social]

@derickr Yes please. I've tried both and still can't get it to show geodata. I'm on Android 16 though.

[derickr@phpc.social]

@Edent If I use the same photo with Chrome as the photo in that bench I linked to in the upload field, it tells me the right location. (I didn't save it, as that'd be a duplicate obviously)

[colinthemathmo@mathstodon.xyz]

@Edent Useful to know ... I'll be transferring images from my laptop backup of my phone anyway, but useful to know.

I understand that the OS might be privacy aware (though I have my doubts) but annoying to have the choice taken from me.

CC: @openbenches

[jezhiggins@mastodon.me.uk]

@Edent Doesn't appear to be unique to the Web based file picker. I've just had a little go with the CycleStreets app (which I wrote). Taking a photo using the stock intent is geolocated, using the built in image picker to select an existing photo is not geolocated.

If I get a chance, I'll apply the change @dracos made in his code, and let you know if it makes any difference

[hoare_spitall@mastodon.world]

@Edent As long as it can be overruled by the user/owner I'd have no problem with it, but I can't see any purpose it would serve me.

[aslakr@mastodon.social]

@Edent Ironically, libvips in it current settings in Mastodon adds a exif header to PNG-files and change to color mode from palette to truecolor, making optimized png larger in file size.

[edent@mastodon.social]

@jezhiggins @dracos
I *think* you need https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission#ACCESS_MEDIA_LOCATION

[calmeilles@mstdn.social]

@Edent

I actually logged in to Github to upvote this.

Slightly tangentially I get why back in the mists of time sites stripped metadata, all those bytes add up in bandwidth.

But it absolutely infuriates me that what was once done of necessity now seems to be blind habit — because that's the way it's always been done.

Regardless of the site I find an image on I want to be able to see *all* the metadata the original author provided.

[edent@mastodon.social]

I've also raised a bug with Firefox. Android has a specific permission which will allow the browser to access the *full* location metadata of a photo.

2029620 - Geolocation EXIF stripped from media due to lack of Android Permission ACCESS_MEDIA_LOCATION

UNCONFIRMED (nobody) in Firefox for Android - Media. Last updated 2026-04-11.

(bugzilla.mozilla.org)

Not sure if it is worth raising bugs for Chrome and Samsung as well. Can't easily test them. If someone else wants to - please go ahead!

#firefox #android

[jon@activitypub.blankpad.net]

@Edent I’m so very divided on this. I think it’s absolutely the right behaviour for photo sharing to strip location data by default, and I see the use cases for allowing it with user consent, what I’m struggling with is how to expose that to users in an understandable way because “this photo has high precision location data attached” is still really surprising behaviour to most people I think.

[edent@mastodon.social]

@jon agreed. Most services (FB, Insta, WhatsApp, etc) automatically strip it.
I remember when they didn't and it was very easy to find celebs accidentally sharing their home locations.
Given we have geolocation prompts in the browser, I don't think it is too much of a hardship - but I too am wary of prompt fatigue.