Scrub

About

Scrub removes the hidden metadata your phone bakes into every photo: GPS location, camera make and serial, capture timestamp, editing software, and device identifiers. It reads location from everywhere it hides: EXIF, XMP, Content Credentials (C2PA), and camera MakerNotes. It also removes the extra data modern phones append after the image itself, such as a motion-photo video, an Ultra HDR gain map, or multi-frame (MPF) copies that each carry their own GPS. The free tier strips everything from a JPEG or PNG in one tap, shows the metadata before and after, and saves a clean copy without ever modifying the original. You can send a photo to Scrub from any share sheet, or clean it in place with "Edit with Scrub" straight from your gallery. A one-time $2.99 Pro unlock adds per-field selective control, metadata editing, batch processing up to 50 files, HEIC / WebP / TIFF support, and MP4 / MOV video scrubbing. All processing happens on the device; photo and video data never leave your phone.

What it does

• One-tap Strip All for JPEG and PNG, free forever
• Before-and-after metadata viewer that reports honestly what remains
• Finds GPS wherever it hides: EXIF, XMP, Content Credentials (C2PA), and MakerNotes
• Removes appended data other tools miss: motion-photo video, Ultra HDR gain maps, and MPF frames
• Send to Scrub from any share sheet, or clean in place with "Edit with Scrub" from your gallery
• Selective keep, metadata editing, and batch up to 50 files (Pro)
• HEIC, WebP, TIFF, and MP4 / MOV video support (Pro)
• Local processing only; the sole network use is verifying your purchase

What you get free, and what the $2.99 unlock adds

Accuracy and limitations

Scrub removes hidden file metadata; it does not alter the visible content of a photo or video, so anything identifying that is actually pictured (a street sign, a face, a screen) remains. For images, Strip All removes the entire metadata block and truncates any data appended after the image itself (a motion-photo video, an Ultra HDR gain map, or MPF frames), each of which can carry its own location. For MP4 and MOV video, Scrub zeroes the identifying fields in place (location, camera make and model, software, serial number, and the capture and modification timestamps) while preserving playback byte offsets, so the file stays playable; per-field selective keep and metadata editing are available for images only in this version.

Privacy at a glance

• No personal data is collected by Scrub.
• All app data is stored on your device.
• No analytics, no telemetry, no crash reporting.
• No account is required to use the app.

Read the full Scrub privacy policy or learn about account and data deletion.

Permissions Scrub requests

Photos and media

On Android 13 and newer, used only as a fallback when the system Photo Picker is unavailable, to load the photo you select. Scrub reads only the file you pick and never scans or indexes your library.

Videos

On Android 13 and newer, the same fallback for loading a video you select for the MP4 / MOV scrub when the Photo Picker is unavailable. Scrub reads only the file you pick.

Media location

Lets Scrub read the GPS location tags embedded in the photo or video you select, so it can show what will be removed and then strip it. Without this, Android silently hides that location from Scrub, defeating its whole purpose. The location is used only on the device to build the before/after view and is removed from the output; no location data is ever sent anywhere.

Storage (legacy read, Android 12 and below)

On Android 12 and below (capped at API 32), used in place of the Photo Picker to load the photo or video you select.

Storage (legacy write, Android 9 and below)

On Android 9 and below (capped at API 28), used to save the cleaned copy back to your gallery. Android 10 and newer use scoped storage and require no write permission.

Internet

Used only to verify and restore your Pro purchase with Google Play. Photo and video data, and all metadata, are processed on the device and never sent anywhere. You can confirm this by unzipping the APK and inspecting the network calls; only the purchase library reaches the network.