Help & User Guide
Vern strips hidden metadata from your photos before you share them. This guide explains what metadata is, why it matters, and how to use Vern — both as a standalone app and via the Share menu.
What Is Photo Metadata?
When you take a photo with your iPhone, the camera silently records a large amount of information alongside the image. This is called metadata — data about the data. It travels inside the image file itself, invisibly, whenever you share the photo.
Metadata can include:
- GPS location — the precise latitude and longitude where the photo was taken, accurate to within a few metres
- Device info — the exact iPhone model, iOS version, and software build number
- Camera info — lens model, aperture, focal length, shutter speed, ISO, and flash status
- Date & time — the exact date and time of capture, down to the second
- Author & copyright — your name if it's set in system settings, copyright strings, and IPTC creator data
- Other EXIF, XMP, and IPTC fields — colour profiles, processing software, editing history, and more
When you post a photo to a website, send it by email, or share it in a messaging app, this metadata usually travels with it — unless the platform strips it. Many platforms do strip metadata when you upload, but many others don't. Vern removes it before the photo leaves your device, so you're in control.
Quick Start
- Open Vern and tap Choose Photos.
- Select one or more photos from your library and tap Add.
- Review the metadata summary — Vern shows you what it found.
- Tap Save Copy or Replace Original to produce a clean version.
Two Ways to Use Vern
Method 1 — Open Vern Directly
Open the Vern app and tap Choose Photos. Select the photos you want to clean — you can select multiple at once. Vern reads the metadata from each photo and takes you to the confirmation screen. After you confirm, tap either:
- Save Copy — saves a new metadata-free version to your Photos library. The original photo is kept untouched.
- Replace Original — overwrites the photo in your library with the cleaned version. The original metadata is permanently gone.
Method 2 — Share Extension
You can use Vern without opening the app at all. In any app — Photos, Files, Safari, Notes, Messages — tap the Share button (the box with an upward arrow) and look for Vern in the share sheet. If you don't see it:
- Scroll to the bottom of the share sheet
- Tap "Edit Actions…" or "More"
- Find Vern in the list and enable it
Once enabled, tap Vern in the share sheet. The metadata review screen appears immediately. Confirm, and the clean photo is saved — without ever switching to the Vern app.
The Metadata Review Screen
Before Vern removes anything, it shows you exactly what it found. Metadata categories are displayed as labelled chips:
- GPS location
- Device info
- Camera info
- Date & time
- Author & copyright
- A count of any remaining fields (e.g. "14 other fields")
If GPS data is present, a small map shows the exact location recorded in the photo. This makes it concrete — you can see a marker on the map showing exactly where the photo would reveal you were.
If a photo has no metadata at all, Vern says so — "No metadata found." You can still save a copy if you like, but nothing will be different.
Vern never removes metadata silently. You always see the review screen before anything is done.
What Happens to the Image Quality
Nothing changes. Vern rewrites the image file container without re-encoding the pixel data. The photo looks identical — the same colours, the same sharpness, the same file quality. JPEG compression is preserved exactly; HEIC fidelity is unchanged. The only difference is the absence of metadata.
Vern strips all metadata fields at once. Selective stripping (keeping some fields and removing others) is not supported — Vern removes everything.
Processing Multiple Photos at Once
Select as many photos as you want in the photo picker — there is no limit. Vern reads the metadata from every selected photo in parallel and shows a combined summary of what was found across the batch.
When you confirm, all photos are cleaned simultaneously. Clean copies are written concurrently, so a large batch doesn't take much longer than a single photo.
Tips
- Use Save Copy, not Replace Original, when in doubt. Save Copy is completely safe — your original is untouched. Replace Original is permanent; use it when you're sure you don't need the metadata.
- Enable the Share extension for everyday use. Once Vern is in your share sheet, stripping metadata is one extra tap before you share — you never have to open the app separately.
- Check the map on the review screen. If you see a pin on the map at your home, workplace, or a location you don't want to share, that's GPS data embedded in the photo. Vern will remove it.
- Process photos right before sharing, not weeks later. Vern always works on your current library photos. The clean copy is saved at the moment you process it — so process photos just before you share them for the cleanest workflow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Vern work with screenshots too?
Yes. Screenshots are image files and can be selected in the photo picker. They typically contain less metadata than camera photos (no GPS, no camera info), but Vern will show you what's there and strip it if you want.
Can I strip metadata from videos too?
No. Vern only processes still photos (JPEG, HEIC, and other image formats). Video metadata is not supported.
Does Vern upload my photos to process them?
No. All processing happens entirely on your iPhone using Apple's own ImageIO framework. Your photos never leave your device.
I used "Replace Original" — can I get the metadata back?
No. Replace Original is permanent. The metadata is gone from the photo in your library. If you have a backup (iCloud Photos with versioning, or an external backup), you may be able to restore the original from there.
Does removing metadata affect iCloud sync?
When you use Replace Original, the updated (metadata-free) photo replaces the original in your iCloud Photos library. The change syncs to your other devices like any other edit. Copies already shared before you ran Vern are not affected.
Vern says "No metadata found" but I know the photo has GPS data
Some apps strip GPS data when they save to your photo library (e.g. social media apps that save from a feed). If you shared the photo from another app before saving it, the metadata may already have been removed at that point. Vern reads what's in your library — if there's nothing there, there's nothing to strip.
Troubleshooting
Vern doesn't appear in my share sheet
Open any photo in the Photos app and tap Share. Scroll to the bottom of the share sheet and tap "Edit Actions…". Find Vern in the list, toggle it on, and tap Done. Vern should now appear in every share sheet where images can be shared.
The app is asking for photo library permission
Vern needs access to your photo library to read image files and save cleaned copies back to it. Go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos and make sure Vern is set to "Full Access" or "Limited Access" (selecting the specific photos you want to process).
Processing seems to hang on a large batch
Very large batches (hundreds of high-resolution HEIC files) can take a moment to load and process. Keep the app in the foreground — iOS may throttle background processing if you switch to another app mid-batch. A progress indicator shows how far along the batch is.