media_metadata_plus 1.4.0

Read media metadata (EXIF, video) from JPEG, HEIC, PNG, WebP, TIFF, CR2, DNG, NEF, ARW, MP4 and MOV. Powered by Rust, works on all platforms.

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.

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🔒 Security

If you discover any security vulnerabilities, please report them via [e-mail]. We take security issues seriously and appreciate your efforts to responsibly disclose them. Read more at SECURITY

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📜 Code of Conduct

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

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📝 License

Project is licensed under the MIT License.