Comment by 1970-01-01

1 day ago

>So, can users transfer their photos via Bluetooth or QuickShare? .. Literally the only way to get a photo with geolocation intact is to plug in a USB cable

Bluetooth is not QuickShare, stop conflating them. Bluetooth works. I just tried it. It just sends the entire file to the destination, filename intact with all EXIF, no gimmicks, tricks, or extra toggles. As it has always done for 20+ years.

7 comments

1970-01-01

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ajifurai  1 day ago

In my testing, when sharing from apps that use MediaStore like Google Photos or Fossify Gallery (using a `content://media/` URI), the GPS location was stripped even via Bluetooth. This seems to be the default behavior from Android 10 onwards.

https://developer.android.com/training/data-storage/shared/m...

> Photographs > If your app uses scoped storage, the system hides location information by default

When sharing via FileProvider from file managers like MiXplorer or Total Commander, the raw file is sent as is, and the GPS location stays intact.

  • 1970-01-01  21 hours ago

    You're doing it wrong then. I again verified on Android 16 using native Bluetooth sharing.

    • ajifurai  13 hours ago

      On my Pixel 9 Pro Fold (Android 16) and Oppo Find X3 Pro (Android 13), when I opened a photo in the Google Photos app and selected Share → Bluetooth, the GPS location was stripped. What app did you share from?

      https://i.imgur.com/cwbigQ8.mp4 before: https://i.imgur.com/ixBvA4T.jpeg after (received): https://i.imgur.com/S5fTEG4.jpeg

      However, I confirmed that the GPS location remains when sharing an image file that isn't stored in the MediaStore (for example, placed in the same directory as a .nomedia file). In this case, only the Share button is displayed at the bottom of the Photos app, and the shared URI is not `content://com.google.android.apps.photos.contentprovider/0/1/content://media/...` but like `content://com.google.android.apps.photos.contentprovider/-1/1/file:///data/...`. You can check the URI by sharing to Intent Intercept app on F-Droid.

edent  1 day ago

OP here. I'm not conflating them. That's why I used the word "or".

I don't know how modern your Android phone is, but on all of mine sharing via Bluetooth strips away some of the EXIF.