Short answer
For Photo Library backup, AmberTime does not add a compression or conversion step. It asks iOS for the original resources and writes those resources to the selected USB drive or external SSD, preserving metadata that is part of those originals.
When this is useful
Metadata matters when an archive needs to be searchable, sortable, or useful years later. Capture date, location, camera details, and other EXIF fields can help reconstruct trips, shoots, client work, and family timelines.
AmberTime is designed for users who want original files, not compressed previews. It can also preserve album context through a small archive index, so backed-up photos can be browsed by album inside AmberTime even though the files remain readable as ordinary folders.
What AmberTime does
- Writes original PhotoKit resources where iOS exposes them.
- Preserves capture timestamps, GPS coordinates, EXIF, and related metadata where available.
- Stores originals in regular folders that computers can read.
- Maintains an album index for archive browsing inside AmberTime.
- Does not upload user files to AmberTime servers.
Things to know
Metadata preservation depends on the resources iOS makes available. If an original is only in iCloud, AmberTime may need to download it from Apple before writing the original locally to the drive.
Some metadata display behavior can vary by the computer or app used to inspect the files later. The backup files themselves are written as regular media resources rather than an AmberTime-only package.