# How to Add GPS Coordinates to a Photo (iPhone, Android, Web)

> Three ways to add GPS coordinates to a photo: at capture on iPhone, after the fact on Android, and entirely in your browser. Visible stamps that survive uploads, with no special software.

*Published: 2026-04-15* · *4 min read*

Canonical URL: https://timestampcamera.net/photo-guides/how-to-add-gps-coordinates-to-a-photo


There are three meaningfully different ways to "add GPS to a photo," and they
solve different problems.

1. **At capture, automatically.** The camera reads GPS from the device the
   moment you take the photo and writes it both to EXIF and onto the visible
   image.
2. **After the fact, from a photo's existing GPS.** The photo already has GPS
   in EXIF; you want to render it onto the visible image so it survives
   uploads.
3. **After the fact, with manually entered coordinates.** The photo has no GPS;
   you know where it was taken and want to stamp it.

Pick the right one for your situation, then follow the steps.

## 1. iPhone: at capture, with a GPS camera app

The native iOS Camera app writes GPS to EXIF if Location Services is on, but
it doesn't render the coordinates onto the visible image. Most platforms
[strip EXIF GPS on upload](/photo-guides/how-to-read-exif-metadata), so EXIF-only GPS
disappears the moment the photo leaves your phone.

For visible GPS, install a GPS camera app. The
[TimeStamp Camera iOS app](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timestamp-camera-gps-photo/id6760574630)
captures GPS, atomic time, and a reverse-geocoded address at the shutter. Open
the app, point, shoot. Every photo arrives with the stamp baked in.

Settings to check on first run:

- **Format.** US (`MM/DD/YY`), EU (`DD/MM/YY`), ISO (`YYYY-MM-DD`), or long
  (`Mon DD, YYYY`).
- **Position.** Top-left, top-right, bottom-left, bottom-right.
- **Show address.** Most fieldworkers want both the coordinate and the address
  line. Toggle the address off if you only want numbers.
- **Job note.** Project name, unit number, or claim ID becomes part of the
  stamp.

The iOS app captures GPS even when offline; the address fills in once you're
back on signal.

## 2. Android: capture EXIF, stamp in the browser

There's no native TimeStamp Camera app for Android (yet). The Android
workflow is two steps:

1. Make sure Location Services and the camera's "Save location" setting are
   on. Take photos as normal; GPS goes into EXIF.
2. On a desktop or another phone, open the
   [browser GPS stamp tool](/#web-tool). Drop the photo, the tool can read
   GPS from the EXIF, and you click download to get a stamped JPEG.

This works on *any* photo from *any* camera that wrote GPS, including DSLRs
and action cameras. The drawback: you can't stamp at the moment of capture
the way a native iOS app can.

## 3. Photos with no GPS: manual entry

If your photo has no GPS data (which is the case for most social-uploaded
photos, since [platforms strip GPS](/photo-guides/how-to-read-exif-metadata)), you
can still add coordinates manually.

1. Open the [GPS camera tool](/gps-camera).
2. Drop the photo.
3. Type the latitude and longitude in decimal degrees (e.g. `37.7749` and
   `-122.4194`). Most maps apps let you right-click a location and "copy
   coordinates."
4. Optionally type the address. The stamp shows live; click *Download*.

This is the same workflow you'd use to stamp a screenshot, a scanned
photograph, or any image where the original GPS context is gone.

## How to find coordinates for an address

Quickest options:

- **Google Maps.** Right-click any spot, pick *What's here*. The card shows
  the coordinates.
- **Apple Maps.** Long-press a spot. The pin shows the coordinates in the
  card.
- **OpenStreetMap.** Right-click → *Show address*. Or paste an address into
  [Nominatim](https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/) and it returns lat/lng.

All three give decimal degrees, which is what the stamp tool expects.

## Visible stamp vs. EXIF: which one matters?

If you're going to upload the photo anywhere, **the visible stamp matters
more.** Most platforms strip EXIF on upload to protect users' privacy. So
if your goal is a photo where the GPS is verifiable to anyone who looks at
it, a visible, pixel-rendered stamp is the only reliable answer.

You can confirm this for yourself: take a GPS-stamped photo, upload it to
Instagram, save the file back. Open the saved file in the
[EXIF viewer](/exif-viewer): the GPS is gone. Open the same file in any
image viewer: the visible stamp is still there.

For evidence and audit work, you usually want **both**: the original file
(with EXIF GPS, kept as evidence) and a stamped version (for sharing). Apps
like the iOS TimeStamp Camera produce the second from the first
automatically.

## Common pitfalls

**Stale GPS.** Some apps cache GPS to save battery. If you walked 50m
between two shots, both might carry the same coordinate. Pick a camera app
that re-acquires GPS per-photo.

**Wrong timezone.** EXIF stores time as a wall-clock string, not UTC. If
you travel and your device clock changes, two photos taken seconds apart can
appear an hour apart. Atomic time + an explicit timezone in the stamp avoid
this.

**Cropped-out stamp.** Place the stamp where it won't be cropped out of
common formats. Bottom-left at ~3% of the image height fits inside both
4:3 and 1:1 crops.

---

Related reading:

- [Best GPS camera apps in 2026](/photo-guides/best-gps-camera-apps-2026)
- [How to read EXIF metadata](/photo-guides/how-to-read-exif-metadata)
- [GPS photo evidence: a contractor's guide](/photo-guides/gps-photo-evidence-a-contractors-guide)