Set EXIF time & date of MP4 files in an Android compatible way

[racoon]

Hello,

I'm struggling with setting the EXIF creation time & date of MP4 videos, in order to correctly show them with their EXIF time & date on an Android phone.

But no matter how I try to set the time & date with ExifTool, every Android gallery app I did try so far (and this includes Googe Photos, the Samsung stock gallery app, as well as half a dozen gallery apps from Play Store) somehow ignores the EXIF time & date written by ExifTool and instead shows the MP4 videos with the last changed date of the MP4 file.
Due to the fact that all gallery apps which I did try behave the same way, I suspect that this is rather related to how the Android Media Framework is reading EXIF time & date.

I know that it's possible to store the time & date also for MP4 videos in a way that it's correctly recognized by Android Media Framework. Because videos recorded with my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 phone are always shown with their EXIF time & date in the gallery apps, no matter what the last changed date of the file is.

Of course I did already try to copy over all EXIF data from a video recorded with my Galaxy Note 8 to another MP4 video. e.g.

Code Select Expand


exiftool -TagsFromFile video_from_note8.mp4 some_other_video.mp4


as well as

Code Select Expand


exiftool -TagsFromFile video_from_note8.mp4 "-all:all>all:all" some_other_video.mp4


But even then some_other_video.mp4 was shown with the last changed date of the file and not with EXIF time & date in the galley.

Here for comparison the (untouched) EXIF data from a MP4 video recorded with my Galaxy Note 8, which shows with the correct EXIF time & date (2020:08:23) in the gallery apps.

Code Select Expand


---- ExifTool ----
ExifTool Version Number         : 12.00
---- Other ----
File Name                       : 20200823_134735.mp4
Directory                       : .
File Size                       : 15 MB
File Permissions                : rw-r--r--
File Type                       : MP4
File Type Extension             : mp4
MIME Type                       : video/mp4
Android Version                 : 9
---- Time ----
File Modification Date/Time     : 2020:08:23 13:47:46+02:00
File Access Date/Time           : 2020:08:23 19:01:23+02:00
File Inode Change Date/Time     : 2020:09:07 22:27:53+02:00
Create Date                     : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
Modify Date                     : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
Track Create Date               : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
Track Modify Date               : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
Media Create Date               : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
Media Modify Date               : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
---- Video ----
Major Brand                     : MP4 v2 [ISO 14496-14]
Minor Version                   : 0.0.0
Compatible Brands               : isom, mp42
Media Data Size                 : 15551860
Media Data Offset               : 32
Movie Header Version            : 0
Time Scale                      : 1000
Duration                        : 8.70 s
Preferred Rate                  : 1
Preferred Volume                : 100.00%
Preview Time                    : 0 s
Preview Duration                : 0 s
Poster Time                     : 0 s
Selection Time                  : 0 s
Selection Duration              : 0 s
Current Time                    : 0 s
Next Track ID                   : 3
Play Mode                       : SEQ_PLAY
Track Header Version            : 0
Track ID                        : 1
Track Duration                  : 8.70 s
Track Layer                     : 0
Track Volume                    : 0.00%
Image Width                     : 1920
Image Height                    : 1080
Graphics Mode                   : srcCopy
Op Color                        : 0 0 0
Video Frame Rate                : 29.901
Matrix Structure                : 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Media Header Version            : 0
Media Time Scale                : 48000
Media Duration                  : 8.68 s
Handler Type                    : Audio Track
Handler Description             : SoundHandle
Avg Bitrate                     : 14.3 Mbps
Rotation                        : 90
---- Location ----
GPS Coordinates                 : 49 deg 4' 18.84" N, 8 deg 11' 26.52" E
GPS Latitude                    : 49 deg 4' 18.84" N
GPS Longitude                   : 8 deg 11' 26.52" E
GPS Position                    : 49 deg 4' 18.84" N, 8 deg 11' 26.52" E
---- Image ----
Compressor ID                   : avc1
Source Image Width              : 1920
Source Image Height             : 1080
X Resolution                    : 72
Y Resolution                    : 72
Bit Depth                       : 24
Pixel Aspect Ratio              : 65536:65536
Color Representation            : nclx 1 1 1
Image Size                      : 1920x1080
Megapixels                      : 2.1
---- Audio ----
Balance                         : 0
Audio Format                    : mp4a
Audio Channels                  : 2
Audio Bits Per Sample           : 16
Audio Sample Rate               : 48000


And here the EXIF data from another MP4 video where the EXIF time & date is ignored by the gallery apps and the file changed date (2020:09:07) is used instead.

Code Select Expand


---- ExifTool ----
ExifTool Version Number         : 12.00
---- Other ----
File Name                       : 1598203703535.mp4
Directory                       : .
File Size                       : 9.1 MB
File Permissions                : rw-r--r--
File Type                       : MP4
File Type Extension             : mp4
MIME Type                       : video/mp4
Android Version                 : 6.0.1
---- Time ----
File Modification Date/Time     : 2020:08:23 13:01:21+02:00
File Access Date/Time           : 2020:08:23 19:28:23+02:00
File Inode Change Date/Time     : 2020:09:07 23:09:30+02:00
Create Date                     : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
Modify Date                     : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
Track Create Date               : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
Track Modify Date               : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
Media Create Date               : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
Media Modify Date               : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
---- Video ----
Major Brand                     : MP4 v2 [ISO 14496-14]
Minor Version                   : 0.0.0
Compatible Brands               : isom, mp42
Movie Header Version            : 0
Time Scale                      : 1000
Duration                        : 4.22 s
Preferred Rate                  : 1
Preferred Volume                : 100.00%
Preview Time                    : 0 s
Preview Duration                : 0 s
Poster Time                     : 0 s
Selection Time                  : 0 s
Selection Duration              : 0 s
Current Time                    : 0 s
Next Track ID                   : 3
Track Header Version            : 0
Track ID                        : 1
Track Duration                  : 4.22 s
Track Layer                     : 0
Track Volume                    : 0.00%
Image Width                     : 1920
Image Height                    : 1080
Graphics Mode                   : srcCopy
Op Color                        : 0 0 0
Video Frame Rate                : 29.216
Matrix Structure                : 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Media Header Version            : 0
Media Time Scale                : 48000
Media Duration                  : 4.07 s
Handler Type                    : Audio Track
Handler Description             : SoundHandle
Media Data Size                 : 9146146
Media Data Offset               : 405155
Avg Bitrate                     : 17.3 Mbps
Rotation                        : 0
---- Image ----
Compressor ID                   : avc1
Source Image Width              : 1920
Source Image Height             : 1080
X Resolution                    : 72
Y Resolution                    : 72
Compressor Name                 : MOTO
Bit Depth                       : 24
Pixel Aspect Ratio              : 65536:65536
Image Size                      : 1920x1080
Megapixels                      : 2.1
---- Audio ----
Balance                         : 0
Audio Format                    : mp4a
Audio Channels                  : 2
Audio Bits Per Sample           : 16
Audio Sample Rate               : 48000


Any suggestions how I can set the EXIF time & date of MP4 videos, so that it's correctly recognized by Android?

Thanks!

[StarGeek]

Minor nitpick, video metadata is usually Quicktime, not EXIF. EXIF data is just one type of metadata.  While some cameras force an EXIF block into a video, it is non-standard and cannot be edited by exiftool at this time.

What is the output of this command on both of your example files?
exiftool -time:all -g1 -a -s FILE.MP4

This command will show the tag names (not descriptions), the group they belong to, and any duplicate tags that may exist.  This might help clarify where the apps are pulling data from.  For example, the CreateDate in your output might be the Quicktime:CreateDate, EXIF:CreateDate from a non-standard embedded EXIF block, or an XMP:CreateDate (unlikely).  There's no way to tell from you output.

Another detail that might throw things off is the fact that Quicktime timestamps are supposed to be in UTC.  But not all cameras record it correctly and not all apps will read it correctly.  And if it was recorded in a different timezone, then, if an app is displaying it properly, it might show the correct local time in the time zone it is viewed, which might be different than where it was recorded.

I can't speak as to how the Google Photos App reads data, but the Google Photos website correctly reads the Quicktime:CreateDate in a timeline.

[racoon]

Hi StarGeek,

thanks for the information.

What is the output of this command on both of your example files?
exiftool -time:all -g1 -a -s FILE.MP4

There is no significant diffence in the output:

For a file where the gallery apps read the date correctly form the metadata the output looks like this

Code Select Expand


---- System ----
FileModifyDate                  : 2020:08:23 13:47:46+02:00
FileAccessDate                  : 2020:08:23 19:01:23+02:00
FileInodeChangeDate             : 2020:09:08 22:49:56+02:00
---- QuickTime ----
CreateDate                      : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
ModifyDate                      : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
---- Track1 ----
TrackCreateDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
TrackModifyDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
MediaCreateDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
MediaModifyDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
---- Track2 ----
TrackCreateDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
TrackModifyDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
MediaCreateDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:47:46
MediaModifyDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:47:46


and for a file where the date is not correctly recognized the output looks like this:

Code Select Expand


---- System ----
FileModifyDate                  : 2020:08:23 13:01:21+02:00
FileAccessDate                  : 2020:08:23 19:28:23+02:00
FileInodeChangeDate             : 2020:09:08 22:50:01+02:00
---- QuickTime ----
CreateDate                      : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
ModifyDate                      : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
---- Track1 ----
TrackCreateDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
TrackModifyDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
MediaCreateDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
MediaModifyDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
---- Track2 ----
TrackCreateDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
TrackModifyDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
MediaCreateDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:01:21
MediaModifyDate                 : 2020:08:23 11:01:21


Meanwhile I did do some further tests with four different phones on three different Android versions (6.01, 9.0, 10.0). All gallery apps (Goolge Photos, Stock Gallery...) on all phones show this behaviour. Interestingly the video files which are listed with the wrong date are not the same ones on every phone. But the issue is 100% reproducible. It's not a caching or data corruption issue. Because even after resetting all data and caches for a specific gallery app and for the android media storage framewok, after re-importing the videos, exactly the same videos are shown with a wrong date, which were shown with the wrong date on this phone before.

What is even more strange is, that the issue is not reproductible in the virtual Android devices which come along with the official Android Studio development environment. There all videos are shown with the "Quicktime:CreateDate" stored in the metadata - irrespective of the Android version.

For testing purposes I did even implement a small Android app which returns the creation/change date of the video as documented in the official developer guide.
https://developer.android.com/reference/android/media/MediaMetadataRetriever#METADATA_KEY_DATE
Surprisingly, this did return in all cases and on all devices the correct date from the video metadata.

So there are definitely some weird things happening when Android is reading metadata from MP4 video files. I have contacted Google support on this issue. In case they are able to provide any helpful information on this topic, I will also post this here. I guess this might also be helpful for others who are facing the same issue.

[Phil Harvey]

There must be something going on that we don't see here.  ie) somewhere else that android is getting the date/time for the videos...  I'm sure you've thought of this, but is there any chance that there could be a sidecar file that Android is using?

- Phil

[StarGeek]

Are the files possibly linked to a cloud storage of some sort, where it might be getting the data?

As it stands, the output you gave shows everything that exiftool can edit.  And if it's not properly reading the data from the file or the file system timestamps, I don't think there's anything exiftool can do.

[racoon]

I'm sure you've thought of this, but is there any chance that there could be a sidecar file that Android is using?

Are the files possibly linked to a cloud storage of some sort, where it might be getting the data?

No cloud storage or sidecar files are involved. I have tested this with new video files recorded on various phones and on my camera and I have only copied the MP4 file of the video over, no additional files. Also no cloud upload. Even tested this in offline mode.

But meanwhile I was able to narrow down the source of the issue to the Android media scanner / Android media store. It's definitely not a problem of how exiftool is storing the metadata.

There are two ways in Android to read the metadata and thus also the "Created" date from a video file.
Either directly from the video file with the MediaMetadataRetriever.
Or from the Android media store, which is an index of all media files on the Android device, including the most important metadata.

According to the Android developer documentation, the DATE_TAKEN field in the media store is supposed to be based on the date returned from the MediaMetadataRetriever.

Well, for those videos where I'm experiencing this issue it isn't. MediaMetadataRetriever always returns the correct date, but for those files Android media store contains the wrong date. Somehow the Android Media Scanner, which is adding new media files to the media store fails to properly store the "Created" date for these files.
All apps doing mass operations on media files like gallery apps, of course rely on the media store for performance reasons and don't read the metadata directly from the files. Which explains why all gallery apps show these videos with the wrong date.

At least I have now a way to correct this on my own without waiting for a reply or fix from Google. I just have to write an app which scans through all video files in the media store, reads the "Created" date directly from the file, compares it to the date in the media store and if they are different, updates the date in the media store.
I guess now is the right time for me to learn, how to porperly implement an Android app.