Some jpeg photos missing on Apple devices

beerForo said:
2.3.7 has an EXIF stripping bug, you might try applying this fix to see if that is it:
Jeremy P

Fixed Post in thread 'Image attachments rotated since the update'

I've attached a patch, you'll need to unzip it and replace the enclosed js/xf/attachment_manager-compiled.js file, which should resolve this. You'll want to rebuild the master data and/or clear your browser cache to pick up the changes, too.
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Thanks. Isn't that related to 2.3.7 though? 🤔 I'm on 2.3.6. When I stripped the exif data from my images, I re-added the rotation at the same time so there weren't rotation issues (this was via exiftool).
 
Chat GPT says I need to batch process all images and save them as baseline jpegs with sRGB profile. Did a test on one of the images and it worked. But it also says I need to change the .data extension to .jpeg. And then change them back to .data. Not sure about that.
 
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Ok this is getting weirder. Guests can see all the images. Once you login - they disappear ............... But when guests see images they show up quite a bit smaller (never worked out why that was). So maybe they show up because they're smaller? or because something changes when they log in?
 
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I haven't managed to resolve this. It was narrowed down to the images prior to May this year, which all had exif data removed. Which shouldn't matter. Windows can see them, Android can see them - Apple can't. They are all jpegs.

Chat GPT suggested Apple was looking for a jpeg marker that exiftool may have "changed" so they were seen as "progressive jpegs". Did a test with that by downloading one of the images that didn't display, re-processing is as "Baseline standard jpeg" and then re-uploading it. That worked. So that seemed to confirm the issue.

Except I had another 1000 images to deal with. Batch processed those in the same way, re-uploaded them - and - well it partly worked. The top half of images show but the bottom half is a grey box (ONLY on Apple devices - they display fine on Windows and Android). Worse than that though, it also then affected all the newer images as well - which were ok before.

So batchprocessing wasn't reliable enough and I can't individually do every photo on the site.

Have now restored a backup of the images as before. And am left with - people with iphones and ipads can't see any images prior to May this year - ie the ones with exif removed.

Now the newer images also have exif removed at the time of upload, and they are ok, but that's a different process.

I'm not quite sure where to go from here. I do actually have a backup of all the older images, before they had exif removed, but they still need the exif removing and how I would tie that back up with a current back up of all images I have no idea.

I did consider converting everything to webp - apple can see that now. My apple users can all see the home page photos which are webp. But then that limits apple users to having devices newer than 2020 and that is only 5 years ago. People might have upgraded phones but I think there are a lot of people out there using older ipads.

But also - if it is the lack of metadata that is stopping Apple seeing the images, presumably that could still be the same even if those same images were converted to webp? I don't know.

Essentially it's an Apple issue, not an image issue. But it's affecting the site and the users.

Edit and yes I realise now that guests only see thumbnails which is why they can view smaller images and logged in users can't see the images.
 
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Alvin63 said:
I did consider converting everything to webp - apple can see that now. My apple users can all see the home page photos which are webp. But then that limits apple users to having devices newer than 2020 and that is only 5 years ago. People might have upgraded phones but I think there are a lot of people out there using older ipads.
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WebP is the way to go here.

Your date calculations are a little off because you are not taking into account that when an OS is released older devices can upgrade to it. For instance an iPhone 7 released in 2016 is compatible with iOS 14 which has WebP support. So for iPhones your are already supported back at least 9 years, which is longer than you should worry about. For iPads: iPad Air 2 released in 2014, iPad mini 4 released in 2015, iPad (5th Gen) released in 2017, and all iPad Pro models support iOS14 with WebP support. MacOS had WebP support in 2016. Most Apple devices released in the last 10+ years now support WebP.

Edit: To determine which iOS versions are being used by visitors to your website using Google Analytics, navigate to Reports > Tech > Tech details. In the table below the graph, change the primary dimension to OS with version. Then, you can filter the data by "Operating system exactly matches iOS" to see the distribution of iOS versions among your users.

I just checked one site and the percent of visitors over the last 28 days running iOS older than 14 was 0.09%.
 
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Thanks - that is helpful. Shows how much/little I know about IOS updates 🤣 . I don't use google analytics any more. Would that info be on google search console as well?

My only real concern is that if the bulk of these images has somehow got something missing (something apple looks for) after the exif removal - that that could still be the case after they are converted to webp and I might still have the same issue. I'd like to test it somehow. I do have a spare licence - just wondering if I could set up a test site with the existing images and webp.
 
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You don't need to use another license to set up a test site as long as the test site is locked down and not open to the public. XF allows this. See #5.

P

Thread 'Pre-Sales FAQ'

1. How much does a license cost? Do I have to renew it every year?
The current prices are listed on the purchase page.
Once purchased, a license can be used indefinitely for no additional cost; it is not necessary to renew it annually.
Included with the initial purchase are 12 months of support and updates.
After that time, you can continue to use the license but in order to download newer versions and benefit from ticket support, a 1 year extension would have to be purchased.
Extension cost depends on whether any official add-ons are attached to the license.

We also have a...
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Thanks. So if you set up a test site on the same server, with the same files and database, how do you ensure you don't have conflicts/get the site files mixed or whatever (sorry if that's a dumb question!)?
 
You should set it up in a different location using a copy of your working data base and a copy of your current working XF install. Adjust the copied config.php with the copied DB name.
To avoid a cookie conflict use.

$config['cookie']['prefix'] = 'auniqueprefix_';
 
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Alvin63 said:
I don't use google analytics any more. Would that info be on google search console as well?
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Google search console will not give you any of this data. Is there a reason you don't use Google Analytics? It sure makes it a lot easier to know what your site is actually doing - content performance, conversion rates, user behavior - just shooting blind without it or another equivalent analytics.
 
Ah :rolleyes: all this was this online safety act stuff for my risk assessment - removal of exif data and stopped using google analytics. Although I guess I could start using it again and update the risk assessment. I can't even remember why google analytics came into the risk factors. Maybe it doesn't.
 
Alvin63 said:
Server says I can create a test site using one of my backups ...........
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If it is a full backup that is difficult. You have to extract the correct files and still need to copy the current working DB.
Do you have cPanel or something similar? There are eight basic steps (using SSH or a GUI).
In cPanel or equivalent:

In cPanel:
  • Using file manager create a directory off of root
  • Protect the directory (right click - Password protect)
  • Copy current XF installation into the new directory
  • Using phpMyAdmin copy working DB to a new new DB (different name)
  • Once DB is copied in cPanel add user privileges to new DB
  • In file manager edit new src/config.php to reflect new DB name
  • Add $config['enableMail'] = false;
    $config['cookie']['prefix'] = 'test_';
  • Go to the new XF admin and change Board URL
burl1.webp
 
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Told them using a backup might be difficult so they're now saying 1) download public_html to computer 2) export database 3) export files to new domain directory 4) Create a new database 5) Import exported database 6) update config.php file 7) password protect it

Does that sound about right?! I set up a new domain name for the test site Copying as per your post sounds easier than downloading and uploading
 
Alvin63 said:
Told them using a backup might be difficult so they're now saying 1) download public_html to computer 2) export database 3) export files to new domain directory 4) Create a new database 5) Import exported database 6) update config.php file 7) password protect it

Does that sound about right?! I set up a new domain name for the test site Copying as per your post sounds easier than downloading and uploading
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That is essentially the same. I am not familiar with hPanel but it sounds like hPanel does not have server side functios so you have to work local. In cPanel you can copy and work server side without downloading. Not sure with hPanel.
You do not need a new domain name. If you copied your existing XF to yourdomain/test then to access your new admin you would navigate to yourdomain/test/admin.php
 
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Thanks. Yes it can be a bit clunky on Hostinger sometimes! I thought having a different domain name for "test" would help keep things separate. Otherwise they were going to have me set up a sub domain. It will be offline and password protected.
 
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