Rephotograph takes you back to the spot where one of your photos was taken, so you can take it again from the same place, facing the same way.

How it works

The app's introduction puts it in two lines. "Rephotograph finds the photos you've taken near where you are right now. Pick one, and it shows you a ghostly outline of it through your live camera so you can stand where you stood and take the shot again."

"A map shows where the original photo was taken (yellow dot) and where you are now (blue dot). Walk until they overlap and turn green. Then match the angle. Then shoot."

Taking a rephotograph

1. Pick a photo. The Map tab shows your photos where they were taken. Tap one, or tap a stack and then a photo. The Albums tab has them by album, as in Photos.
2. Get there. The photo's map shows the original in yellow and you in blue. Tap the green distance pill for directions in Apple Maps.
3. Open the camera with the green camera button at the top right.
4. Line it up. The dot turns green when you are on the spot, and the wedge turns green when you face the way the original did. Then match the outline to the scene. The slider fades the original photo in under its lines. Press and hold the viewfinder to see the scene alone; keep holding and, unless Reduce Motion is on, it flicks between the scene and the original, so anything out of line jumps.
5. Take as many as you like, then tap the small picture of your shots to compare each one with the original and save the ones you keep. They go into your library and into an album called Rephotograph, with the original beside them.

Every photo you have been back to is in the Rephotographs tab. Open one to slide through the original and every return since, and share them as a video or as photos.

Permissions, and changing them

Rephotograph asks for three things, and its introduction says what each is for:

• Camera: "To show the scene you are lining up."
• Photos: "To find the original and to save the one you take."
• Location: "To walk you to the spot it was taken from."

To see where each stands, tap the ⓘ in the Rephotographs tab. The About screen lists all three, and Open Settings takes you to Rephotograph's page in the Settings app. You can also go there yourself: Settings, then Apps, then Rephotograph.

Precise location matters. With approximate location the app cannot tell when you are standing on the spot, and the camera says "Precise location is off". Tap Turn on beside it, or switch on Precise Location under Location in Settings.

Selected photos work. The map then shows only those, with "Showing 12 selected photos" and Manage to change the selection. Saving still works, but the Rephotograph album needs access to all photos.

Starting from the Photos app

Open a photo in Photos, tap Share, and choose Rephotograph. Rephotograph opens on that photo's page, with its map and how far you are from where it was taken. Tap the green camera button when you are there. Rephotograph appears when you share one photo at a time. If it is not in the row of apps, scroll to the end of the row, tap More, and add it.

It works on photos in your library that record when they were taken. It will not open a screenshot, and it cannot find a photo that is not in your library, such as one opened from a message.

Fixing a photo's location

Some photos were placed a few houses, or a few streets, from where they were taken. On the photo's page, press and hold the place name on the map and choose Fix Location. Drag the map until the pin sits where the photo was taken and tap Save. If you like, first drag the yellow handle to set which way the camera faced. Leave it alone and the direction stays as it was, or stays unset if the photo never had one. If you are standing where it was taken, the location arrow at the bottom of the map puts the pin under you; it needs Precise Location.

This changes the photo's location in Photos itself, so Photos and every other app see the new place. To undo it, press and hold the place name again and choose Restore Original Location. Restore is offered for as long as the location is still the one Rephotograph set.

Common questions

It says "No location data in this photo"

The photo was taken without a location, so there is no spot to walk you to. You can still open the camera and line up the outline by eye.

If you know where it was taken, you can add a location. Photos without one are not on the map, so find it in the Albums tab. Tap Add Location under that message, drag the map until the pin sits where the photo was taken, or tap the location arrow if you are standing there, and tap Save. The location is added in Photos itself, and the photo then appears on the map. To take it off again, press and hold the place name and choose Remove Location.

The dot will not turn green

Rephotograph turns green only when it can be sure you are on the spot: inside the error your iPhone reports for its own position, and never more than 15 metres away. Indoors or between tall buildings it may say "Can't tell yet" instead. Check that Precise Location is on, step into the open, and give it a moment.

It says "The original didn't load"

If you use iCloud Photos and the original is kept in iCloud, Rephotograph has to download it before it can draw its outline, and that needs a connection. Get online and tap Retry. A series that says "These photographs wouldn't load" has Try again for the same reason. Your photos are still in your library.

It saved, but says the original couldn't be added

Your new photo is saved. Only the step that puts the original into the Rephotograph album failed, which can happen with a photo that is in iCloud or in a shared library.

The share sheet says it "needs the date the photo was taken"

Rephotograph finds the photo in your library from the details in its file, so share it from the Photos app rather than from Files, Messages or another app. If it is in your library but the file records no date, open it from the Albums tab instead.

It says "That's a screenshot" or "Rephotograph made this picture"

Rephotograph retakes photos taken with a camera, so it will not open a screenshot, or a picture it saved from a series for you to post. It leaves both out of its map and albums too. They are still in the Photos app.

It says "Couldn't find that photo"

That happens when a photo shared to Rephotograph is not in your photo library. Save it to your library first, then share it from the Photos app.

Posting a series to Instagram

Open the series in the Rephotographs tab and tap the share button at the top right. Instagram crops tall pictures to 4:5, so choose 4:5 or Square under Shape. For a carousel, choose Photos. Every photo starts chosen, oldest first; to change the order, tap Clear, then tap them in the order you want. Then tap Save to Photos, and Rephotograph tells you where they are in Instagram's picker. Instagram does not take a caption from another app, so tap Copy #RephotographApp and paste it into your own.

Where are my rephotographs?

In your photo library, and in the album called Rephotograph next to their originals. Inside the app, they are in the Rephotographs tab.

Does anything leave my iPhone?

Rephotograph never uploads your photos, and has no account, no analytics and no server. Apple is sent your photos' locations to draw maps and name places. Every detail is in the privacy policy.

Still stuck?

Write to support@sacrificegolf.com. The quickest way is Email support in the About screen, which writes the app's version, your iOS version and your iPhone's model under your message. Tell us what you expected to happen and what happened instead, and we will answer.