Can the date on an iPhone photo be changed?

Yes. In the Photos app, open the photo, swipe up or tap the info button, and tap Adjust to change the date, time and even the location. That's why the date in a photo's details isn't strong proof on its own.

Are timestamp camera apps proof?

Only if they don't trust the phone's clock. Many date-stamp apps simply print the phone's time, which anyone can change in Settings. Look for one that uses internet or GPS time and keeps a record anyone can check, like Timesnap.

Will photos from my phone be accepted as evidence?

That depends on who you're showing them to and what for. Clear originals with a reliable time and place, and a way to check them, are much more persuasive than a photo whose date can't be confirmed. For legal matters, ask your solicitor or whoever is handling your case what they need.

How long can a Timesnap photo be checked?

The proof record is kept for 30 days with the free app and for a year with Timesnap Pro. The date, time and address stay drawn on the photo for good.

How to Prove When and Where a Photo Was Taken

A photo's date and location are easy to change. Here's what makes proof that holds up, and how to get it every time you take a picture.

Photos settle arguments: the state of a flat when the tenant moved in, the damage before a repair, the parcel left at the door, the site on the day work finished. But a photo only proves something if people believe when and where it was taken, and that's harder than it sounds.

Why the date on a photo isn't proof

The phone's clock can be changed. Set the date back in Settings and every photo taken afterwards carries the wrong date, and so do date-stamp camera apps that read the phone's clock.
The date can be edited afterwards. The iPhone Photos app and Google Photos both let you change a photo's date and time in a few taps, and free apps can change the location too.
Sharing removes it. WhatsApp, Messenger, most social networks and many email apps strip the hidden details, so the copy someone receives has no date or location at all.
A date written on later proves nothing. Any photo editor can write a date on a picture.

What makes strong photo evidence

Insurers, adjudicators, courts and clients judge evidence by how hard it would be to fake. Photo evidence is strongest when:

The time comes from an independent source, such as internet time servers or GPS satellites, not a clock the photographer controls.
The place is recorded by GPS at the moment of capture, with its accuracy, and shown on the photo itself.
A record is kept by someone else, outside the photographer's control, so it can't be changed later.
Edits can be detected, so a copy can be checked against what was actually captured.
Anyone can check it, without special software and without taking the photographer's word for it.

Ways to back up a photo's date

If you've already taken the photos, a few habits help:

Send the originals straight away, by email to yourself or to the other party. The date the mail server records shows the photo existed by then.
Upload them to a cloud service such as Google Drive, OneDrive or iCloud; the service records when each file arrived.
Keep the original files from the phone, never only edited or shared copies.
Include time clues in the picture where you can: today's newspaper, a receipt, a screen showing the date.

These show a photo existed by a certain time. They can't show it wasn't taken earlier, or where it was taken, and they don't catch edits made before sending.

Use a camera that records proof

A proof camera records the evidence at the moment of capture, so there's nothing to piece together later. This is what the Timesnap camera does:

It takes the time from the internet (and, on Android, GPS satellites), never from the phone's clock. Changing the phone's date doesn't change Timesnap's.
It draws the date, time and address into the photo's pixels, and onto every frame of a video, where they can't be stripped away like hidden details.
It saves a proof record of each capture, with its time, place, GPS accuracy and fingerprint, on our servers, out of the photographer's reach.
It notes when the phone's location looked simulated.
Anyone can check the photo on timesnap.info with its code, and see any edited areas drawn in red.

A photo checked this way answers the three questions people ask about evidence (when, where, and has it been changed) in one link you can share.

Take photos with the real time and place on them: get the free Timesnap camera.

How to prove when and where a photo was taken