iOS app that reads .gpx file and apply geotags to photos in folder

[o2mpx]

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Apologies if posted in wrong forum:

Have been using Geotag Photos 2 to record gps coordinates and its related app Geotag Photos Tagger to apply those coordinates —- works great with photos shot with iPhone or imported into the camera roll. 

However, I would like to tag photos imported from SDcard into a Files folder (without running the images into the camera roll) before importing to Lightroom Mobile. Does anyone know if there’s an iOS app that batch tags coordinates from .gpx file with images?

[andy3009]

Take a look at Geotagr.  Cascable may also work but I haven't used it in years.

[o2mpx]

Many thanks @andy3009 for the tip on Geotagr; I’ll leave some details in case others are interested:

Emailed developer/founder asking if app supports using a generic .gpx file to tag photos in iPad Pro folder in Files. Got affirmative response within a day, so went ahead and purchased for 4.99 in App Store. 

Actually the app generates a .xmp file with the gps tags when I select the .gpx file downloaded to iPad and long press to share with the Geotagr app to map the coordinates to photos in the Files folder.

Unfortunately Lightroom Mobile doesn’t allow selection of the .xmp file when importing. However, the desktop version of Lightroom CC does, so net, net, still no native iPad workflow that’s self contained to tag gps coordinates with photos. 

For desktop use, Geotagr works similarly to Geotagr Photos 2, so I’ll likely stay with the app I’ve been using. 

 

 

[andy3009]

Thanks @o2mpx - are you trying to geotag raw files?  With Geotagr, Geotag Photos etc, jpegs get the location embedded into the file, but I went down a rabbit hole trying to find a mobile tool on iPad that would embed the location into the raw files itself.  Last correspondence with developers was a few years ago.  There may be a limitation / feature in iOS that prevents modifying the original file.  There's a tool called Metapho for examining the metadata including location and the developer gave a good explanation of how it's handled https://zininworks.com/blog/2019/3/metapho-and-photos-asset

I could not find a way to import the geotag xml with the raw file and have the location assigned in Lightroom.

I since moved away from an iPad only workflow.  If I don't have my MacBook with me I use an Android phone with an app that can apply geotags to both jpegs and raws using a .gpx recorded on the phone (and add manual lens metadata if needed), then upload from the phone to Lightroom cloud etc.

 

[andy3009]

Oh...maybe we no longer have to bother https://petapixel.com/2025/01/24/geospy-is-an-ai-tool-that-can-geolocate-photos-in-seconds/ 

[o2mpx]

@andy3009 actually I’ve had no trouble tagging with Geotag Photos gps into raw files on iPad. The issue is all the photos have to be imported into Photos camera roll, as it will not work with photos imported from card to folder in Files - that’s my issue, or rabbit hole as you call it, transfer photos from camera SD card to folder in Diles and tag with coordinates. 

As you said, use Geotag Photos on phone to record as you take pictures, then import raw (or jpeg but I haven’t tried jpeg but presumably it’s the same), into iPad Photos, then there’s a comparison app called Geotag Photos Tagger - free and provided by Geotag Photos Pro itself, to tag coordinates with the photos in camera roll. 
 

[andy3009]

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@o2mpx thanks - I also didn't find a way to do that on iPad.

[Bronski]

Well, I was actually looking for something different, but since I am here... I recently changed my import workflow because I dropped Lightroom Classic and moved over to Desktop, which means no more plugins, so I needed to find a solution to change the EXIF data of my RAW files, which I used to do with LensTagger. Since I am a Unix guy since the 90ies my go to solution is the command line tool exiftool, and that can be used for importing GPS data, too. https://www.exiftool.org/geotag.html

Sorry that this is no GUI program or iPad solution, but maybe it helps someone. Using exiftool to import GPS data was actually on my to do list, but this will have to wait for my next photowalk so I can record a track. I can report once I have done that.

[Bronski]

It turned out to be a little bit complicated. Since my bike computers output format for recorded data is "FIT", I needed to convert the track data to GPX. That isn't difficult, since the data gets uploaded anyway (Garmin in this case, but you could use all different kind of websites like Velohero), you can just download the data converted to GPX. I am sure there are offline ways to do that, too. But when trying to use exiftool to update the GPS coordinated of my pictures, only 2 files were updated, and not with the correct coordinates. It turned out you need to pay attention to timezones and tell exiftool how many hours GPS- and "picture taken"-timestamps differ. Once I had that figured out, all pictures got updates with the correct coordinates. Luckily this is only complicated the first time. The next time will be just executing a script and I am done.