Building an offline tool to strip metadata from files before sharing them

[jaganganesh]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Product Feedback

💬 Feature/Topic Area

None

Body

Hi Everyone, I had an idea today and started working on it immediately.

I'm building b64, a small open-source React Native utility that lets you inspect and remove hidden metadata from files before sharing them.

The main motivation was privacy. A lot of files contain metadata that most people never see—EXIF data in photos, embedded tags in media files, document metadata, etc. I wanted a simple offline tool that could show what's there and wipe it when needed.

Current goals:

• Inspect metadata from images, videos, audio files, PDFs, and text documents
• Strip/remove metadata directly on-device
• Base64 encode/decode files for text-only transfer workflows
• Handle large files through chunked streaming instead of loading everything into memory
• No analytics, no cloud services, no trackers
• Fully offline

Tech stack:

• react-native
• react-native-exify
• react-native-blob-util
• react-native-document-picker

Long term, I'd like to keep it lightweight and eventually publish it on F-Droid and Google Play.

Right now I'm researching metadata structures across different file formats and figuring out the cleanest way to sanitize them without breaking files.

I would like to know:

• Any features you'd want in a privacy-focused file utility like this?

Repo: https://github.com/mobilenaut/b64

[github-actions[bot]]

💬 Your Product Feedback Has Been Submitted 🎉

Thank you for taking the time to share your insights with us! Your feedback is invaluable as we build a better GitHub experience for all our users.

Here's what you can expect moving forward ⏩

• Your input will be carefully reviewed and cataloged by members of our product teams. 
  • Due to the high volume of submissions, we may not always be able to provide individual responses.
  • Rest assured, your feedback will help chart our course for product improvements.
• Other users may engage with your post, sharing their own perspectives or experiences. 
• GitHub staff may reach out for further clarification or insight. 
  • We may 'Answer' your discussion if there is a current solution, workaround, or roadmap/changelog post related to the feedback.

Where to look to see what's shipping 👀

• Read the Changelog for real-time updates on the latest GitHub features, enhancements, and calls for feedback.
• Explore our Product Roadmap, which details upcoming major releases and initiatives.

What you can do in the meantime 💻

• Upvote and comment on other user feedback Discussions that resonate with you.
• Add more information at any point! Useful details include: use cases, relevant labels, desired outcomes, and any accompanying screenshots.

As a member of the GitHub community, your participation is essential. While we can't promise that every suggestion will be implemented, we want to emphasize that your feedback is instrumental in guiding our decisions and priorities.

Thank you once again for your contribution to making GitHub even better! We're grateful for your ongoing support and collaboration in shaping the future of our platform. ⭐

[v-ember]

Hi @jaganganesh , thanks for sharing with the community!

Unfortunately, we currently do not allow self-promotion, advertising, or solicitation in Community Discussions. We want to make sure there is space for users to ask questions without overwhelming them with other conversations.

If you need help with your project instead, please post a new discussion on Programming Help. I am closing this for now.

Thank you for helping us maintain a productive and tidy community for all our members.