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How to Test Whether an App Removes Metadata

Apps change how they treat photos, and articles go out of date. This simple test tells you what really happens today.

Published by Harsh Raj · Last reviewed November 2026

What you need

• A photo with location data, ideally taken with location turned on for the test. Choose a harmless place, not your home.
• A second account or a friend, so you can receive what was sent.
• The Metadata checker.

The test

1. Scan the original. Confirm that GPS location and camera details appear.
2. Send or post it using the app's normal method.
3. Save it on the receiving side using the app's own save or download option. Don't take a screenshot, because that creates a new image.
4. Scan the received file and compare it with the first scan.
5. Repeat with other sharing methods, such as sending as a file or document.

What to record

What the results can and can't tell you

This test shows what reached the person on the other end. It doesn't show what a company stored on its own servers, which you can only learn from its privacy policy.

Why settings can change the result

Before a photo reaches an app, your phone may have already altered it. On iPhone, for example, the photo picker can include or leave out location, depending on Options. So note how you selected the photo, and test more than once if a result surprises you.

How to read common results

Make the test fair

A surprising result usually has an ordinary cause, so change one thing at a time. Use the same photo for each method. Test JPG and HEIC separately, because apps can handle formats differently, and PNG images sometimes behave differently again. If you test on an iPhone and on an Android phone, treat them as two tests, as the operating system does part of the work before the app sees the file.

It's also worth receiving the file on a different device. If you save your own sent message on the same phone, the app may show you your local copy and not the version that the other person received.

Sharing methods to try

• A normal photo in a chat or a feed post.
• The "document" or "file" option in a messaging app.
• An email attachment.
• A cloud storage link, opened and downloaded in a private browser window.
• A website upload form that you use often, such as a marketplace listing.

Documents, email, and cloud links usually pass along the original file, which makes them the methods to check first. Treat that as a starting assumption to test, not a rule.

When to test again

Your results describe one version of one app on one day. Run the test again after a major app update, after you change phones, or before you share something where the result really matters. A note with the date, kept with your results, shows you at a glance how old your answer is.

Testing a metadata remover

The same method works on tools like ours. Scan a file, clean it, then scan the clean copy and compare the two. To check a claim that a website doesn't upload your files, load the page, turn off your connection, and see whether it still works. A tool that needs a server to process your photo will fail at that point.

Written by Harsh Raj

A tech enthusiast who builds and tests EraseAILabel's tools. How we test

Common questions