Frequently asked questions

A daily puzzle made from your own photo library. Each day Daily ExposureDailyExposure picks one of your photos and hides it in a darkroom developer tray. You guess when it was taken, where, what it shows and who is in it — and with every guess the picture develops a little more, until it appears in full color in a frame.

It’s a fun way to rediscover memories you’d forgotten you had.

Daily ExposureDailyExposure only uses photos that are more than 30 days old, and it skips screenshots and pictures of documents, receipts, whiteboards and charts. Photos with a location and your Favorites are a little more likely to come up, and “On This Day” anniversaries far more so.

It also avoids using the same place twice within two weeks, and never repeats a photo until every other one has had its turn.

Yes. Open Settings (the gear) and turn on Favorites only. Daily ExposureDailyExposure then picks only from the photos you’ve marked as Favorites in the Photos app.

Daily ExposureDailyExposure needs photos that are more than 30 days old and aren’t screenshots or documents. If Favorites only is on, it also needs enough Favorites. Try turning off Favorites only, or check that the app has access to your whole library in Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos.

Six. Set your answers for every question, then choose Make Guess. Correct answers lock in, the rest get a hint, and the photo develops a bit more. The dots beside the button show how many guesses you’ve used.

Where only appears when the photo has a location saved with it. Photos without one — scanned prints, or pictures taken with location turned off — skip that question.

The fourth question depends on the photo. If there are people in it, you guess how many (1, 2, 3–4, or 5 or more). If not, you guess whether the subject was Near, Medium or Far from the camera.

Yes. The subject is worked out on your device, and sometimes it guesses wrong. After the puzzle, choose Answer wrong? Correct it and pick the right subject, or type your own. The correction is saved for that photo and used the next time it comes up.

As a thank-you for fixing it, you get a bonus puzzle that day.

There’s one puzzle a day — that’s the fun of it. The exception is a bonus play: if you correct a wrong answer, Daily ExposureDailyExposure gives you another puzzle for the same day.

Yes. The filmstrip under the framed photo holds your last ten puzzles. Tap or click any frame to see that day’s photo again, framed.

Each question you solve earns up to 100 points, and more the fewer guesses it took. A pin close to the real spot earns a distance bonus of up to 150 points, and solving everything — a Perfect Exposure — adds 100 more.

Your 🔥 streak counts the days in a row you’ve played. Miss a day and it starts again.

Only your score: the puzzle number, a row of colored squares for each question showing how many guesses it took, and how far off your pin was. It never includes the photo, place names or dates, so you can post it anywhere without giving away your memories.

Daily ExposureDailyExposure saves the title into the photo’s own metadata in your library, where the Photos app and other photo software can see it. Photos keeps your original, so you can always revert. Live Photos are left untouched so they keep their motion.

On the result screen, choose Don’t Show Again. That photo won’t be picked for any future puzzle. Choose Show Again to undo it.

Yes. If today’s photo is stored in iCloud, Daily ExposureDailyExposure downloads it through the Photos framework, just as the Photos app would.

Not at the moment. Each device keeps its own puzzle history, streak and corrections, stored only on that device.

No. Photos never leave your device. Choosing the photo and working out what’s in it all happen on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Daily ExposureDailyExposure has no accounts, no ads and no tracking. See the privacy policy for details.

Only to start the Where map at your current location, which makes dropping a pin easier. It’s optional, and your location is never stored or shared.

iPhone with iOS 27 or later, iPad with iPadOS 27 or later, and Mac with macOS 27 or later. It’s a native app on each.

Mostly not. The puzzle itself works offline. Maps and place search for the Where question come from Apple Maps and need a connection, and photos stored only in iCloud need one to download.