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Uploading Photos to Website keeps EXIF Data for .MOV, .HEIC, .MP4, but not for .PNG or .JPG
I had my son's iPhone backing up photos automatically to Google Photos and he ran out of space. I now have his phone backing up to Dropbox where I have a lot more storage. I'm trying to port much of ...
Nancy
Dropbox Community Moderator
Dropbox Community ModeratorHey frankjp, hope it’s OK to jump in here.
Out of curiosity, do you have the desktop app installed on your Mac device? If yes, I’d like you to add couple of these files within the local Dropbox folder instead, and let me know if the original date keeps being altered (both locally and on the web account, after the files have synced).
Nancy thanks for your attention. I do have the Dropbox desktop app on my Mac. The files in question, however, are not "my" files, they are my son's files, I have a Dropbox Family account, so I am hoping you are considering use cases like this. He has an iPhone. I had it set up to use Google Photos for backing up photos instead of iCloud. He ran out of space on Google Photos. I already have been using Dropbox for many years, and some time ago I upgraded to a family account and I am trying to use that storage for his photos. I have the Dropbox app on his phone; it works "okay" in backing up his photos (not great - - it only syncs if you launch the Dropbox app, I was hoping it would be 100% automatic, my son is a teen). So, that is syncing any new photos. But I am trying to clear out some space in his Google Photos account, and I was hoping to do this by downloading batches from his Google Photos and uploading them to his Dropbox account/area which is part of my family account. I already have my own Dropbox setup on my Mac which I have been using for years, and I don't want to intermingle his photos with any of my files if I can help it. Shouldn't I be able to upload images to Dropbox Photos and have them "land" properly organized by the original date? I feel like this is a sensible expectation based on the UI that's presented.
- Jay
Hi frankjp, it depends on how the images are being uploaded to the Dropbox account.
If the automatic camera upload feature is being used, then the files would have the correct date and time from the file. If files are being uploaded manually, then it would have the current date and time.
If you're using another app or service, then this could vary depending on how it adds the file to your account.
Jay thanks for your attention. I don't think your comment is accurate, though. I have plenty of files that I downloaded from Google Photos and then uploaded to Dropbox Photos, all through the browser, and many of those are organized by original date as expected. As in the subject field of this thread, initially this seems to be the case for some file types only (.MOV, .HEIC, .MP4). I haven't done "thorough comprehensive testing", but it's definitely not true that all files uploaded manually would have the current date and time, in fact MOST of them are displayed (as expected) using the original date/time to organize. The problem is, it's not just one or two that don't get organized as expected, it's enough that I don't trust the process at all, and even more so, even if I know "manually" the date/time to assign, I can't do it within Dropbox Photos. If I can't get this to work, this could be a dealbreaker for me, I have been a Dropbox customer for many years, and I'm the "Dad and IT Guy" for my family, and I have got to believe pretty close to the target customer for the "Dropbox Family" plans … my #1 storage pain point is that my spouse and kids pile up photos and videos at an alarming rate, and I'm trying to use Dropbox storage that I've paid for to manage these, but if it's a daily hassle for me to manage (as it has been for a few weeks now), at some point I might have to switch to paying Apple or Google however I may not want to. You guys have been great for many years, but I feel like I'm paying for a system that isn't working anymore.
