retroexif is a native metadata editor for macOS and iPadOS, built for analog photography. It keeps the complete technical story of every photograph together: camera and lens, film stock, exposure, development, scanning, lab work and location, alongside standard EXIF and XMP metadata.
This page is about the project itself. If you just want the app, go to the retroexif download page.
What it does
Film photographers usually end up with two disconnected worlds: a folder of scans with almost no metadata, and the real information (which camera, which film, how it was developed) scattered across notebooks and memory. retroexif brings both into one focused workflow.
- Camera, lens and exposure details
- Film stock, format, ISO and roll information
- Development process: chemistry, dilution, time, temperature and agitation
- Laboratory and scanning metadata
- Location tagging with GPS coordinates
- Batch editing and metadata templates to keep everything consistent
- Everything stays on your device: no accounts, no uploads, no tracking
Screenshots
Why
A photograph is more than its pixels. Camera settings, location, equipment and capture information are part of the history of an image too. retroexif gives you a straightforward way to inspect, correct and preserve that information without turning metadata management into a database administration job.
Under the hood
retroexif is a native app written in Swift and SwiftUI, with a shared core for macOS and iPadOS. It requires macOS 15 or later, or iPadOS 17 or later, and the macOS build runs on both Intel-based and Apple Silicon Macs.