signalapp / signalapp/Signal-iOS

Preserving original media timestamps when saving to iOS Photos app

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Swift
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Description

  • I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates
  • I am submitting a bug report for existing functionality that does not work as intended
  • This isn't a feature request or a discussion topic

Bug description

When saving images or videos from Signal to the iOS Photos app (either individually or via bulk export from the Media Overview), the original sent/received timestamp is lost. Instead, the "Date Created" in the iOS gallery is set to the moment of the export (the "now" date).
This makes it very difficult to organize media, as photos from months ago appear as the most recent items in the system gallery, breaking the chronological order.

Steps to reproduce
  • Open a conversation in Signal.
  • Tap on the contact name to go to the "Media, Files & Links" overview.
  • Select one or multiple older images (e.g., from several months ago).
  • Tap the "Share" icon and select "Save [X] Images" to export them to the iOS Photos app.
  • Open the iOS Photos app and check the "Library" (All Photos) or the image details/metadata.

Actual result:
The exported images appear as the most recent items in the iOS library. The metadata shows the "Date Taken" or "Date Created" as the current time of the export, instead of the original timestamp when the media was sent/received.

Expected result: The images should be saved with their original timestamps (or the message timestamp) so that they are correctly sorted chronologically in the iOS Photos app.

Device info

Device: iPhone 15 Pro
iOS version: 26.2
Signal version: 7.89 (1253)

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start at the Media, Files & Links overview and the Share action that performs “Save [X] Images,” then trace how exported images and videos are written to the iOS Photos app. Reproduce with older media and inspect the saved metadata; done means the original sent/received or message timestamp is preserved and the media remains chronologically ordered.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
ios, swift
Domain
mobile-dev
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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