Instagram Media Converter

A native macOS application built with SwiftUI to parse and enhance Instagram export data.

Features

🔍 Instagram Data Parsing

Parses Instagram export HTML files to extract post metadata
Supports photos and videos from Instagram exports
Extracts captions, timestamps, GPS coordinates, and tagged users
Preserves existing camera EXIF data

📍 EXIF Enhancement

GPS Coordinates: Adds location data from Instagram posts to EXIF
Captions: Embeds Instagram captions as EXIF comments
Timestamps: Updates photo dates to match Instagram post dates
Camera Metadata: Preserves original camera settings and device info

⚙️ Conversion Options

Output Formats: JPEG, HEIC, or preserve original format
Folder Structure: Option to preserve Instagram's date-based organization
Video Support: Copies video files (EXIF modification not supported for videos)
Non-destructive: Never modifies original files in the input folder

🎯 User Experience

Folder Selection: Easy input/output folder picker
Preview Mode: See exactly what will be converted before processing
Progress Tracking: Real-time conversion progress with status updates
Sandboxed: Secure macOS app with proper entitlements

How to Use

Export your Instagram data from Instagram's settings
Open the app and select your Instagram export folder as input
Choose an output folder where converted files will be saved
Configure options (GPS, captions, timestamps, etc.)
Preview a sample of your posts to verify the conversion
Start conversion and watch the progress

Instagram Export Structure

The app expects the standard Instagram export format:

instagram-export-folder/
├── your_instagram_activity/
│   └── content/
│       └── posts_1.html          # Post metadata
├── media/
│   ├── posts/
│   │   ├── YYYYMM/               # Photos organized by date
│   │   └── ...
│   └── stories/                  # Story content
└── ...

Build Requirements

Xcode 15.0 or later
macOS 13.0 or later
Swift 5.9 or later

Building

Open InstagramConverter.xcodeproj in Xcode
Build and run (⌘+R)

The app is configured with proper sandboxing entitlements for file access.

Example Output

After conversion, your photos will have:

GPS coordinates embedded in EXIF (if available in Instagram data)
Instagram captions as EXIF comments
Correct timestamps matching when you posted to Instagram
Original camera metadata preserved
Organized structure (optional) matching Instagram's date folders

Privacy & Security

Sandboxed: The app runs in macOS sandbox for security
Local Processing: All data processing happens locally on your Mac
No Network Access: No data is sent to external servers
Read-Only Input: Original Instagram export files are never modified

Technical Details

Built with:

SwiftUI for the user interface
Core Location for GPS coordinate handling
Image I/O for EXIF metadata manipulation
Foundation for file system operations

The app parses Instagram's HTML export format and correlates media files with their metadata to create enhanced versions with proper EXIF data.

paschmann / SocialImport