At the start of this year I began my first ever 365 day project. It’s simple. Take and share a photo every day. No problem. When I was building that little WordPress microsite I really wanted to have my photo’s EXIF data show automatically, so I made that happen. Cool.
But then I kind of got addicted to the data. Not only that, I wanted to be able to browse certain images by exif data (like if it has GPS associated with it, or was shot with an f-stop below 2, for instance). So I made an app that does that. It’s called Proooof.
I didn’t do a ton of research, but I could only find one app that does anything similar (and it does it OK, too). But I wanted something super streamlined, with a simple bar that can vary in size, contents, and color…but nothing else, really.
I realize the audience for this sort of thing probably isn’t huge. But that’s ok. Even if you just want to show shutter speed and aperture, it can do that great. I know there are more data points to bring in, but honestly it seemed overkill. I don’t even have a camera that does elevation/altitude. But the iPhone does! Here is the same photo cycling through some display options.
It’s pretty solid! I haven’t managed to crash it, but I also have some limits in place, that I might lift after more testing. For instance, each image exports at a max of 2000px wide. Also, you can batch edit photos, but only six at a time. Import? Ten at a time. Then again, if there’s a desire for higher limits there, I might want to think about making this a desktop app.
What I didn’t want was a “watermark” or nostalgia timestamp burn on the image. I wanted the photo to remain untouched. Adding a subtle bar (that you can change the color of, or have be completely transparent) felt like enough.
Huge disclaimer: did I use AI? Yes, Claude Code absolutely made this possible. But making this was also a reaction to generative AI imagery, where sure you could fake EXIF data, but what’s the point of that. Proooof gets its name from the fact that there’s still some realness left in the creative world. You can’t even edit the exif data in the app.
Some other fun-ish facts about Proooof. I’m using my monospace font Wintyr again, it just fits the data portion of this so well. I’m also using (sparingly, in the logo and a few headings) Anybody, as wide as possible. Do I have a roadmap for future features, maybe. Let’s go over a few:
- – Setting for “smaller file size” overall.
- – Ability to batch and import more photos at one time.
- – Eyedropper color picker
- – Wipe library setting (clear it all out)
- – Ability to reorder rows
- – Maybe even an Android version
It’s nerdy and I love it. The photographer in me is glad it exists, and the designer in me is happy with how it turned out. It’s not perfect, but it’s only going to get better. If you use Proooof, whether you love it or hate it, I’d love to hear about it. I’ll be out there, every day, taking a picture with one of my cameras.
