Photos rotated after adding to observation, date and time not imported

Bug Reports
21

I open iNaturalist, create a new observation, add photos, then select my HEIC photos. Many are imported with the wrong rotation, presumably because the EXIF tag isn’t being read correctly.
I’m running a Samsung Galaxy S21 with Android 13, August 2023 security patch level. iNaturalist version 1.29.5.

Here’s an offending pic, the app imports this image 180 degrees upside down. I think you can access the original file on my Microsoft OneDrive with this link: https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ak4Lq2gGjO8hl5sJAZgLPH2vm1ueHw?e=xtboaD

I’ll share here on forum too, but I assume the forum strips relevant metadata so it’s not particularly useful to share here.

20230826_171252
20230826_1712524032×3024 1.89 MB

22

FWIW at this point I don’t think we need more details on the issue, our developer found the cause. We just need to implement a fix for it. I’m sorry it’s affecting you, and we’ll get a fix out as soon as possible.

1 Like
23

Are you sure the bug hasn’t reoccurred? It was about two years ago above when you linked https://github.com/inaturalist/iNaturalistAndroid/issues/1076

24

Or maybe you’re saying that internally, developer just found a new cause today from my example image. I guess it’s ambiguous.

25

Just got an update to 1.29.14, where the “what’s new” notes specifically say “more attempts to fix photo import problems”.

Unfortunately I’m still having issues. Interestingly photos taken with Pro mode are imported with proper orientation, but not photos taken with regular photo mode. I’m happy to share anything that’s helpful, if you guys need more sample images or whatever.

1 Like
26

Just for your information. I have got the same issue for some time, with my Galaxy S10, only with photos in “Portrait”. I fixed it manually, one by one, just in slightly cropping the picture before sharing it with iNaturalist app.

27

It is no longer an issue for me, but I switched to RAW copies under Picture Formats in the Samsung Camera app settings.

iNaturalist android app is now at version 1.29.18 (592), Camera version 12.0.01.48. Just FYI, cameras can add a tag to the metadata that informs software of rotation. So it actually can depend on how you hold the camera/phone. Search “Exif orientation flag.” Usually software is written to look at the flag so the image is displayed correctly, but sometimes bugs happen.

28

Has the issue ever happened with non-HEIF/HEIC photos?

29

Hi! I found this old topic when searching for any previous discussion of photos being rotated 180 degrees. My phone recently decided to start saving all its photos in HEIC format. This seemed to coincide with my observation photos being rotated 180 degrees in the iNat app.

My phone: Galaxy A53 5G

Android version 14

iNat software version 1.30.13

Problem occurs when sharing photos from Gallery to iNat and also when inside the app and importing photos from Gallery.

Example: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/204274610 No ambiguity about whether I was holding my phone at an angle, I was holding it upright and level.

What other info is needed?

30

What format are you shooting photos in? jpeg, or heic/heif?

31

That’s HEIC, not jpg.