A cross-platform Flutter plugin for reading media metadata from images, RAW files, and videos, and extracting video thumbnails. Powered by Rust via flutter_rust_bridge v2.

Supported formats

Format Metadata
JPEG / JPG Capture time, modified time, dimensions, camera, GPS
HEIC / HEIF Capture time, modified time, dimensions, camera, GPS
PNG Capture time, modified time, dimensions
WebP Capture time, modified time, dimensions, camera, GPS
TIFF Capture time, modified time, dimensions, camera, GPS
DNG / NEF / ARW Capture time, modified time, dimensions, camera, GPS (reported as image/tiff)
CR2 Capture time, modified time, dimensions, camera, GPS
MP4 Duration, dimensions, creation time, modified time, GPS, camera
MOV Duration, dimensions, creation time, modified time, GPS, camera

Platform support

Platform Support
macOS ✅
Windows ✅
Linux ✅
iOS ✅
Android ✅

Installation

flutter pub add media_metadata_plus

Usage

import 'package:media_metadata_plus/media_metadata_plus.dart';

void main() async {
  final meta = await MediaMetadata.read('/path/to/file.heic');

  print(meta?.mimeType); // "image/heic"
  print(meta?.width); // 4032
  print(meta?.height); // 3024
  print(meta?.capturedAt); // 2024-03-15 10:30:00.000Z
  print(meta?.modifiedAt); // 2024-03-16 08:00:00.000Z
  print(meta?.cameraMake); // "Apple"
  print(meta?.cameraModel); // "iPhone 15 Pro"
  print(meta?.gps?.lat); // 37.42195
  print(meta?.gps?.lon); // -122.08408
  print(meta?.gps?.alt); // 15.3
  print(meta?.duration); // null (images) or Duration for video
}

MediaMetadata.read() returns null for unsupported formats or corrupt files — no exceptions to handle.

No initialisation call required. The Rust library is loaded automatically on first use.

Video thumbnails

// Extract a JPEG thumbnail from a video file
final bytes = await MediaMetadata.generateThumbnail('/path/to/video.mp4');
if (bytes != null) {
  final image = Image.memory(bytes);
}

// Seek to a specific position (milliseconds)
final bytes = await MediaMetadata.generateThumbnail(
  '/path/to/video.mp4',
  timeMs: 5000,
);

// Write to disk at the same time
final bytes = await MediaMetadata.generateThumbnail(
  '/path/to/video.mp4',
  savePath: '/tmp/thumb.jpg',
);

generateThumbnail uses a two-stage approach:

  1. Fast path — reads the embedded cover-art image from the file's covr iTunes atom. No video decoding, covers most iPhone and iPad footage.
  2. FFmpeg fallback — when no embedded thumbnail is present, decodes one frame at 10 % of the video duration (or timeMs). Supports H.264, HEVC, VP9, AV1, and MPEG-4 — covers Android, DSLRs, GoPro, DJI, and any other source.

Output is scaled to a maximum width of 640 px preserving aspect ratio. Returns null if no thumbnail can be extracted.

API

MediaMetadata.read(path)

Reads metadata from a single file. Returns null for unsupported formats or corrupt files.

MediaMetadata.readAll(paths)

Reads metadata from multiple files in parallel (Rayon on the Rust side). Returns a List<MediaMetadata?> in input order.

MediaMetadata.generateThumbnail(path, {int? timeMs, String? savePath})

Extracts a JPEG thumbnail from a video file. Returns null if no thumbnail can be extracted.

Models

MediaMetadata

Field Type Description
mimeType String Detected MIME type
width int? Width in pixels
height int? Height in pixels
capturedAt DateTime? Capture time in UTC
modifiedAt DateTime? Last-modified time in UTC
cameraMake String? Camera manufacturer
cameraModel String? Camera model
gps GpsCoordinates? Location
duration Duration? Video duration

GpsCoordinates

Field Type Description
lat double Latitude (negative = south)
lon double Longitude (negative = west)
alt double? Altitude in metres

How it works

Format is detected from the first 16 bytes of the file (magic bytes), not the file extension. HEIC metadata is read directly from the EXIF box without decoding the image. The entire native layer is Rust — no Swift, Kotlin, or C++ platform code is involved.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue first to discuss what you'd like to change. Pull requests should:

  • target the main branch
  • include tests for any new behaviour
  • keep the Rust and Dart layers in sync (run bash scripts/generate.sh after changing rust/src/api.rs)

Please adhere to our Code of Conduct when interacting with the project.

🔒 Security

If you discover any security vulnerabilities, please report them via yashashm.dev@gmail.com. We take security issues seriously and appreciate your efforts to responsibly disclose them. Read more at SECURITY

📜 Code of Conduct

This project is governed by a Code of Conduct. By participating, you agree to uphold a welcoming and inclusive environment.

📝 License

Project is licensed under the MIT License.

Libraries

media_metadata_plus