Camera image orientation on iOS

Question

Hi,
Taking a picture using CamerUI on iOS (and on Android) may bring the image oriented in the wrong angle.
Reading the Exif on Android is fine and allows reorientation to the correct position, however this is not working on iOS.
Since I assume taking a picture using the camera is a core feature for many applications, I’d appreciate if someone who managed to solve it can post a solution here?
Thanks!

Answer 1

I think this is it:
// ExifReader.as
// Reads and obtains JPG EXIF data.
// Project site: http://devstage.blogspot.com/2011/02/extract-jpg-exif-metadata-in.html
// SAMPLE USAGE:
// var reader:ExifReader = new ExifReader();
// reader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, function (e:Event):void{
//     trace(reader.getKeys());
//     trace(reader.getValue("DateTime"));
//     trace(reader.getThumbnailBitmapData().width +'x' + reader.getThumbnailBitmapData().height);
// reader.load(new URLRequest('myimage.jpg'), true);
package
    import flash.display.Bitmap;
    import flash.display.BitmapData;
    import flash.display.Loader;
    import flash.display.LoaderInfo;
    import flash.events.Event;
    import flash.events.EventDispatcher;
    import flash.events.ProgressEvent;
    import flash.net.URLRequest;
    import flash.net.URLStream;
    import flash.utils.ByteArray;
    public class ExifReader extends EventDispatcher
        private var m_loadThumbnail:Boolean = false;
        private var m_urlStream:URLStream = null;
        private var m_data:ByteArray = new ByteArray();
        private var m_exif:Object = new Object;
        private var m_exifKeys:Array = new Array();
        private var m_intel:Boolean=true;
        private var m_loc:uint=0; 
        private var m_thumbnailData:ByteArray = null;
        private var m_thumbnailBitmapData:BitmapData=null;
        private var DATASIZES:Object = new Object;
        private var TAGS:Object = new Object;
        public function load(urlReq:URLRequest, loadThumbnail:Boolean = false):void{
            m_loadThumbnail = loadThumbnail;  
            m_urlStream = new URLStream();
            m_urlStream.addEventListener( ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, dataHandler);
            m_urlStream.load(urlReq);
        public function getKeys():Array{
            return m_exifKeys;
        public function hasKey(key:String):Boolean{
            return m_exif[key] != undefined;
        public function getValue(key:String):Object{
            if(m_exif[key] == undefined) return null;
            return m_exif[key];
        public function getThumbnailBitmapData():BitmapData{
            return m_thumbnailBitmapData;
        public function ExifReader(){
            DATASIZES[1] = 1;
            DATASIZES[2] = 1;
            DATASIZES[3] = 2;
            DATASIZES[4] = 4;
            DATASIZES[5] = 8;
            DATASIZES[6] = 1;  
            DATASIZES[7] = 1;
            DATASIZES[8] = 2;
            DATASIZES[9] = 4;
            DATASIZES[10] = 8;
            DATASIZES[11] = 4;
            DATASIZES[12] = 8;
            TAGS[0x010e] = 'ImageDescription';
            TAGS[0x010f] = 'Make';
            TAGS[0X0110] = 'Model';
            TAGS[0x0112] = 'Orientation';
            TAGS[0x011a] = 'XResolution';
            TAGS[0x011b] = 'YResolution';
            TAGS[0x0128] = 'ResolutionUnit';
            TAGS[0x0131] = 'Software';
            TAGS[0x0132] = 'DateTime';
            TAGS[0x013e] = 'WhitePoint';
            TAGS[0x013f] = 'PrimaryChromaticities';
            TAGS[0x0221] = 'YCbCrCoefficients';
            TAGS[0x0213] = 'YCbCrPositioning';
            TAGS[0x0214] = 'ReferenceBlackWhite';
            TAGS[0x8298] = 'Copyright';
            TAGS[0x829a] = 'ExposureTime';
            TAGS[0x829d] = 'FNumber';
            TAGS[0x8822] = 'ExposureProgram';
            TAGS[0x8827] = 'IsoSpeedRatings';
            TAGS[0x9000] = 'ExifVersion';
            TAGS[0x9003] = 'DateTimeOriginal';
            TAGS[0x9004] = 'DateTimeDigitized';
            TAGS[0x9101] = 'ComponentsConfiguration';
            TAGS[0x9102] = 'CompressedBitsPerPixel';
            TAGS[0x9201] = 'ShutterSpeedValue';
            TAGS[0x9202] = 'ApertureValue';
            TAGS[0x9203] = 'BrightnessValue';
            TAGS[0x9204] = 'ExposureBiasValue';
            TAGS[0x9205] = 'MaxApertureValue';
            TAGS[0x9206] = 'SubjectDistance';
            TAGS[0x9207] = 'MeteringMode';
            TAGS[0x9208] = 'LightSource';
            TAGS[0x9209] = 'Flash';
            TAGS[0x920a] = 'FocalLength';
            TAGS[0x927c] = 'MakerNote';
            TAGS[0x9286] = 'UserComment';
            TAGS[0x9290] = 'SubsecTime';
            TAGS[0x9291] = 'SubsecTimeOriginal';
            TAGS[0x9292] = 'SubsecTimeDigitized';
            TAGS[0xa000] = 'FlashPixVersion';
            TAGS[0xa001] = 'ColorSpace';
            TAGS[0xa002] = 'ExifImageWidth';
            TAGS[0xa003] = 'ExifImageHeight';
            TAGS[0xa004] = 'RelatedSoundFile';
            TAGS[0xa005] = 'ExifInteroperabilityOffset';
            TAGS[0xa20e] = 'FocalPlaneXResolution';
            TAGS[0xa20f] = 'FocalPlaneYResolution';
            TAGS[0xa210] = 'FocalPlaneResolutionUnit';
            TAGS[0xa215] = 'ExposureIndex';
            TAGS[0xa217] = 'SensingMethod';
            TAGS[0xa300] = 'FileSource';
            TAGS[0xa301] = 'SceneType';
            TAGS[0xa302] = 'CFAPattern';
            //... add more if you like.
            //See http://park2.wakwak.com/~tsuruzoh/Computer/Digicams/exif-e.html
        private function dataHandler(e:ProgressEvent):void{
            //EXIF data in top 64kb of data
            if(m_urlStream.bytesAvailable >= 64*1024){
                m_urlStream.readBytes(m_data, 0, m_urlStream.bytesAvailable);
                m_urlStream.close();
                processData();
        private function processData():void{
            var iter:int=0;
            //confirm JPG type
            if(!(m_data.readUnsignedByte()==0xff && m_data.readUnsignedByte()==0xd8))
                return stop();
            //Locate APP1 MARKER
            var ff:uint=0;
            var marker:uint=0;
            for(iter=0;iter<5;++iter){ //cap iterations
                ff = m_data.readUnsignedByte();
                marker = m_data.readUnsignedByte();
                var size:uint = (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<8) + m_data.readUnsignedByte();
                if(marker == 0x00e1) break;
                else{
                    for(var x:int=0;x<size-2;++x) m_data.readUnsignedByte();
            //Confirm APP1 MARKER
            if(!(ff == 0x00ff && marker==0x00e1)) return stop();
            //Confirm EXIF header
            var i:uint;
            var exifHeader:Array = [0x45,0x78,0x69,0x66,0x0,0x0];
            for(i=0; i<6;i++) {if(exifHeader[i] != m_data.readByte()) return stop();}
            //Read past TIFF header
            m_intel = (m_data.readByte()!=0x4d);
            m_data.readByte(); //redundant
            for(i=0; i<6;i++) {m_data.readByte();} //read rest of TIFF header
            //Read IFD data
            m_loc = 8;
            readIFD(0);
            //Read thumbnail
            if(m_thumbnailData){
                var loader:Loader = new Loader();
                loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, thumbnailLoaded);
                loader.loadBytes(m_thumbnailData);
            else stop();
        //EXIF data is composed of 'IFD' fields.  You have IFD0, which is the main picture data.
        //IFD1 contains thumbnail data.  There are also sub-IFDs inside IFDs, notably inside IFD0.
        //The sub-IFDs will contain a lot of additional EXIF metadata.
        //readIFD(int) will help read all of these such fields.
        private function readIFD(ifd:int):void{
            var iter:int=0;
            var jumps:Array = new Array();
            var subexifJump:uint=0;
            var thumbnailAddress:uint=0;
            var thumbnailSize:int=0;
            // Read number of entries
            var numEntries:uint;
            if(m_intel) numEntries = m_data.readUnsignedByte() + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<8);
            else numEntries = (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<8) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte());
            if(numEntries>100) numEntries=100; //cap entries
            m_loc+=2;
            for(iter=0; iter<numEntries;++iter){
                //Read tag
                var tag:uint;
                if(m_intel) tag = (m_data.readUnsignedByte()) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<8);
                else tag = (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<8) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte());
                //read type
                var type:uint;
                if(m_intel) type = (m_data.readUnsignedByte()+(m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<8));
                else type = (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<8)+(m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<0);
                //Read # of components
                var comp:uint;
                if(m_intel) comp = (m_data.readUnsignedByte()+(m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<8) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<16) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<24));
                else comp = (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<24)+(m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<16) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<8) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<0);
                //Read data
                var data:uint;
                if(m_intel) data= m_data.readUnsignedByte()+(m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<8) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<16) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<24);
                else data = (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<24)+(m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<16) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<8) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<0);
                m_loc+=12;
                if(tag==0x0201) thumbnailAddress = data; //thumbnail address
                if(tag==0x0202) thumbnailSize = data;  //thumbnail size (in bytes)
                if(TAGS[tag] != undefined){
                    //Determine data size
                    if(DATASIZES[type] * comp <= 4){
                        //data is contained within field
                        m_exif[TAGS[tag]] = data;
                        m_exifKeys.push(TAGS[tag]);
                    else{
                        //data is at an offset
                        var jumpT:Object = new Object();
                        jumpT.name = TAGS[tag];
                        jumpT.address=data;
                        jumpT.components = comp;
                        jumpT.type = type;
                        jumps.push(jumpT);
                if(tag==0x8769){ // subexif tag
                    subexifJump = data;
            var nextIFD:uint;
            if(m_intel) {
                nextIFD= m_data.readUnsignedByte()+(m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<8) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<16) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<24);
            else {
                nextIFD = (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<24)+(m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<16) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<8) + (m_data.readUnsignedByte()<<0);
            m_loc+=4;
            //commenting this out, as suggested in the comments.
            //if(ifd==0) jumps = new Array();
            for each(var jumpTarget:Object in jumps){
                var jumpData:Object = null;
                for(;m_loc<jumpTarget.address;++m_loc)m_data.readByte();
                if(jumpTarget.type==5){
                    //unsigned rational
                    var numerator:uint = m_data.readInt();
                    var denominator:uint = m_data.readUnsignedInt();
                    m_loc+=8;
                    jumpData = numerator / denominator;
                if(jumpTarget.type==2){
                    //string
                    var field:String='';
                    for(var compGather:int=0;compGather<jumpTarget.components;++compGather){
                        field += String.fromCharCode(m_data.readByte());
                        ++m_loc;
                    if(jumpTarget.name=='DateTime' ||
                        jumpTarget.name=='DateTimeOriginal' ||
                        jumpTarget.name=='DateTimeDigitized'){
                        var array:Array = field.split(/[: ]/);
                        if(parseInt(array[0]) > 1990){
                            jumpData = new Date(parseInt(array[0]), parseInt(array[1])-1,
                                parseInt(array[2]), parseInt(array[3]),
                                parseInt(array[4]), parseInt(array[5]));
                    else jumpData = field;
                m_exif[jumpTarget.name] = jumpData;
                m_exifKeys.push(jumpTarget.name);
            if(ifd==0 && subexifJump){
                //jump to subexif area to obtain meta information
                for(;m_loc<data;++m_loc) m_data.readByte();
                readIFD(ifd);
            if(ifd==1 && thumbnailAddress && m_loadThumbnail){
                //jump to obtain thumbnail
                for(;m_loc<thumbnailAddress;++m_loc) m_data.readByte();
                m_thumbnailData = new ByteArray();
                m_data.readBytes(m_thumbnailData, 0, thumbnailSize);
                return;
            // End-of-IFD
            // read the next IFD
            if(nextIFD){
                for(;m_loc<nextIFD;++m_loc) m_data.readUnsignedByte();               
            if(ifd==0 && nextIFD)
                readIFD(1);
        private function thumbnailLoaded(e:Event):void{
            m_thumbnailData.clear();
            var loader:LoaderInfo = e.target as LoaderInfo;
            var bitmap:Bitmap = loader.content as Bitmap;
            if(bitmap != null){
                m_thumbnailBitmapData = bitmap.bitmapData;
            stop();
        // Releases m_data and dispatches COMPLETE signal.
        private function stop():void{
            m_data=null;
            dispatchEvent(new Event(Event.COMPLETE));
            return;