How do I add a photo from my gallery instead of the camera?

When to use gallery import

Two common cases: a photo taken with the phone's normal camera before you had the app open, and re-importing a Buildsnapper gallery copy (for example onto a replacement phone, or into the correct section after a filing mistake). Both work — the app treats the photo's own embedded location and date as the evidence record.

The steps

1. Open the plot and expand the section the photo belongs to.
2. Tap the Gallery tile beside the item's camera tile.
3. Pick the photo. Imports are one photo at a time — repeat for each shot.
4. The app processes the image, reads its location and date, and attaches it to the item. The photo's original date taken (not today's date) is what shows in the report.

iOS

The app reads the location straight from the photo's metadata, falling back to the Photos library record if the file has been edited. You may be asked for photo library access the first time — allow it.

Android

The first time you add a gallery photo on Android 10 or later, Buildsnapper explains why it needs access to your photos ("Photo access for gallery photos"), then Android asks. Android takes a photo's location out before it shares the photo with an app that can't see your photos, so choose Allow all: with limited access, only the photos you select there keep their location. Buildsnapper reads only the photos you add; this is not location tracking. Said no? Allow it in Settings → Apps → Buildsnapper → Permissions → Photos and videos. Android 9 asks nothing.

The app also cleans up the temporary copies the import process creates, so repeated imports do not eat your storage.

A photo with no location

If no location can be recovered, the photo is not imported. The app says:

"This photo has no location data, so it can't be used as Part L evidence. Photos taken with Buildsnapper always carry one. If this came from another app or was shared to you, the location was most likely stripped — retake it here instead."

The usual causes: the phone's camera had location off when the shot was taken (Camera app settings), the photo came through WhatsApp or similar (messaging apps strip location), or on Android photo access was refused or limited to other photos. Gallery copies of photos taken with Buildsnapper before version 2.0 may have no location either.

What import does not do

Importing copies the image into the app's evidence store; it never deletes or alters the original in your gallery. The gallery original remains your backup copy.