Apple 0x0002 - bplist

[Dr.Pat]

Greetings all,

Regarding extraction of JPEG digital images from Apple smartphones, I'm always encountering the tag Apple 0x0002 with binary data associated:

Apple 0x0002                    : bplist00O..×.h.LF.¡.Ç.Ã.┼.├.▓.ã.┴.▒.ë.╗×A=6v.8.┬[...]

Somehow, I can't figure to find a clear answer on what information is associated with this tag. It seems to be a potential identifier but I haven't found any proof of it.

Has someone here already found what information is associated with this tag and how to decode it? I've already tried copying the data within a binary interpreter but without success, unfortunately.

Thank you in advance!

Dr.Pat

[greybeard]

With the latest version of Exiftool it decodes as AEMatrix - maybe arrived somewhere around 12.54

But given the question mark in the documentation there may be some doubt as to the actual meaning

https://exiftool.org/TagNames/Apple.html

[Dr.Pat]

Hey! Thanks for your quick answer greybeard.

I've run exiftool once again with the latest version and found no problem to extract the binary data:

  "AEMatrix": "base64: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",


Still no idea however on what it means given exiftool documentation and online searches.

Any other ideas on the meaning of the data?

[StarGeek]

There is a significant amount of MakerNotes across all cameras whose purpose is unknown.  Most camera companies don't release the specs of their MakerNotes and sometimes even change them from model to model.

The purpose of most MakerNotes is known only through testing by the camera community.

[Phil Harvey]

This is some sort of auto-exposure information, encoded in Base64 for the JSON output.  I don't know more than this.

- Phil

[Dr.Pat]

Thank you for your answers!

I've tried to contact Apple Developer to see if they will be happy to share this info, even though I think it won't work.

I'll update this conversation in case I find something about it.

[JimM]

Thank you for your answers!

I've tried to contact Apple Developer to see if they will be happy to share this info, even though I think it won't work.

I'll update this conversation in case I find something about it.

Don't hold your breath on receiving an answer from Apple. I asked about some iPhone metadata about 5 years ago. No response from them.

Edit to add: I see there's a lot more of these iPhone tags that are known now than there were the last time I looked at this. Nice going to whoever reverse engineered this -- Phil Harvey or others.