How it works
When location is allowed for the camera, a phone writes the GPS position into every photo and video as it takes it. This page reads that position straight from the file, in your browser. Shots taken within 300 metres of each other count as one place, the same rule Location Sorter uses, and each place is named from OpenStreetMap.
Why a photo shows no position
- Location was off for the camera. On an iPhone: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera.
- The photo came through WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram or another app that removes the position before sending.
- It is a screenshot, a scan, or a photo from a camera without GPS.
- It was edited and exported by an app that drops the metadata.
Is anything uploaded?
No. Your photos and videos are read on your computer and stay there: once this page has loaded, you can disconnect from the internet and it still reads them. Two things go out, both to OpenStreetMap: the map tiles for the area on screen, and each place's coordinates, to look up its name. The privacy policy has the details.
Hundreds of photos?
This page shows where shots were taken. Location Sorter goes on to file them: it sorts a folder of photos and videos into one folder per place, lets you check and fix the places on a map first, and undoes a sort if you change your mind. For one photo at a time, How to see where a photo was taken on Windows shows how with File Explorer.