Geotag camera photos with your phone's GPS, automatically
Most interchangeable-lens cameras have no GPS. With CloudTether's “Geotag photos” switched on for a shoot, each JPEG that comes off the tethered camera is tagged with your phone's location — matched to the moment you pressed the shutter, not the moment the file arrived. There's no track log to export and no syncing in Lightroom afterwards: the location is in the file when it reaches your destinations.
- Phone location written into each JPEG
- Matched to the capture time, not arrival
- No GPS track log to sync later
- Set per shoot — off where location shouldn't travel
Who it's for
Real estate and property shoots where the address matters; events spread across a site; press and news, where location is part of the caption; travel, landscape and wildlife photographers who want a map of the trip. Anyone whose camera lacks GPS, or whose maker's Bluetooth location link keeps dropping during the day.
How it works
While a shoot with geotagging is active, the phone records a location track. When a JPEG arrives, CloudTether reads its capture time from the file's EXIF data (DateTimeOriginal) and looks up where the phone was at that moment, then writes the coordinates into the JPEG's GPS fields. Since app 1.1.4 that's done without recompressing the image, so the file keeps the camera's full original quality. If the capture time can't be matched, the phone's latest position is used.
If your camera's clock is ahead of or behind the phone, set the offset in More › Settings › Geotagging and it's applied before matching. RAW and HEIF files pass through untagged — if you shoot RAW+JPEG, the JPEG carries the location. See geotagging for the background.
Privacy and permissions
Geotagging is set per shoot, so you decide where location is recorded; leave it off for clients or shoots where location shouldn't travel with the files. CloudTether needs permission to use the phone's location — if it's off, the shoot shows a quiet note that photos won't be geotagged. The longer explanation is in how to geotag camera photos with your phone's GPS.
How to geotag camera photos with your phone's GPS
Open the shoot's settings
Open the shoot the camera sends to and find the Location section.
Turn on “Geotag photos”
“Adds this phone's location to each photo as it's captured.” Allow location access when asked.
Check the camera clock
If the camera's clock differs from the phone's, set the offset in More › Settings › Geotagging, then shoot.
FAQ
Can I add GPS to photos from a camera without GPS?
Yes. Tether it to your phone with CloudTether and turn on “Geotag photos” for the shoot; each JPEG gets the phone's location at the moment of capture.
Are RAW files geotagged?
No. Location is written into JPEGs; RAW and HEIF files pass through untagged. Shoot RAW+JPEG if you need both.
Does geotagging reduce image quality?
No. Since app 1.1.4 the location is written without recompressing the JPEG.
What if my camera's clock is wrong?
Set the camera clock offset in More › Settings › Geotagging so capture times line up with the phone's location track.
Geotag with phone GPS is part of the one CloudTether plan
Every feature and every destination is included. Download CloudTether for iPhone, iPad or Android; the price for your country is shown in the app before you subscribe.