Methodology
Testing & Methodology: Scoping and Verification Standards
Last reviewed: September 16, 2026
Empirical testing framework
CleanMyPhoto does not rely on assumptions or marketing claims. Our guidance, parsing capabilities, and cleaning mechanisms are verified through structured testing across operating systems, camera hardware, and web browsers.
We test on real-world files generated by Apple iOS (iPhone 12 through iPhone 16 Pro), Google Android (Pixel 6 through 9 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S21 through S24 Ultra), and professional digital cameras from Sony, Canon, and Nikon.
Verification protocols
Our quality assurance protocol includes three core testing pillars:
- • Parser Accuracy: Verifying that exifr and our ISO-BMFF parser correctly identify standard EXIF 2.32, Adobe XMP, IPTC Core, and Apple QuickTime location atoms without reporting false negatives.
- • Sanitization Integrity: Verifying that cleaned JPEG exports and sanitized MP4 containers contain zero residual GPS coordinates or serial numbers when audited with industry-standard forensic tools like Phil Harvey ExifTool.
- • Stream Fidelity: Ensuring that lossless video container cleaning does not alter audio/video synchronization, keyframe indexes, or frame rate playback.
Limitations and scope
CleanMyPhoto focuses on consumer photo and video metadata. It does not claim to remove proprietary cryptographic watermarks, steganographic payloads, or C2PA provenance credentials that are integrated into pixel data.
Browser image decoding support varies, particularly for proprietary HEIC configurations on non-Apple browsers. Users are always encouraged to verify their cleaned copies prior to high-risk sharing.