How can you tell what time a photo sent via iMessage was taken?

If a picture is iMessaged to me, how can I tell what time that photo was taken? When I save it, it changes the EXIF info to the time I save it (which isn't helpful). I am trying to see if a stranger is lying to me, for my safety.

Solution 1:

You can figure out what date & time an image was taken¹ (and the GPS coordinates of where it was taken²) by saving the image to your camera roll, opening this online metadata viewer, and loading the photo into that tool.

¹ This can be manually modified with a metadata editor or be made incorrect by setting the device time to something that isn't the current time.

² As long as the Location permission was granted by the photographer in their Camera app, and the metadata wasn't manually scrubbed of this (note that it can be made incorrect by a metadata editor too).

Here's a sample result:

Solution 2:

Can't guarantee this but it's worth a try. Save the photo, then import to Mac with GraphicConverter or iPhoto or Photos.app. Or if on Windows, maybe iTunes has a way to get it there.

I guess you could mail it to yourself on another platform. If in Photos, select it and export original. Then use 'exiftool' to dump ALL the tags. There will be lots of dates. If there is GPS data, the GPS Date will probably be good. If not, look at all the other dates and the earliest one is probably good.

Unfortunately, it is possible to change any of the dates, but this is your best chance.

P.S. There is a version of exiftool embedded in GraphicConverter but it's easier to read in Terrminal.

Solution 3:

If you have a Mac computer, there's an option (works for me at least).

The sequence of actions which lets me figure the time a shot was taken:

1. Open the Messages app
2. Choose your dialog, right-click the image and choose "Open"
3. CMD+I. The creation date is exactly the time the photo was shot.