Photos 6.0 app on Big Sur doesn't export keywords in EXIF data

So I think I've found a bug in Apple Photos Version 6.0 (321.0.110) on macOS Big Sur v11.1. Or perhaps I'm doing something wrong?


1) Inside the Photos app, tag a photo with a keyword. Also give the photo a title and a caption.

2) Select File->Export->Export 1 photo

3) In the Export dialog, select "Photo Kind: JPEG"

4) In the Export dialog, make sure that "Include: Title, Keywords, and Caption" is checked

5) Click the Export button

6) Select an appropriate destination folder (e.g., Desktop) and click Export

6) Open the exported JPEG file in Preview (or any other app that allows viewing keywords in the EXIF data)


Expected Result: The keyword is present in the EXIF data. These steps used to work for me on MacOS 10.15 Catalina.

Actual Result: The keyword is missing from the EXIF data


I'm guessing that this is just a bug in the new Photos app? Or am I missing some step that is now necessary for exporting photos with keywords?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Dec 18, 2020 7:37 PM

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Mar 12, 2021 11:13 AM in response to rusty415

It's a known bug in Photos 6.0. Be sure to report it via Feedback - Photos - Apple.


There is a workaround. Export file as a tiff and convert the tiff to jpeg or HEIC with an Automator workflow. This way the metadata is embedded in the file itself. Thanks to léonie for the workaround.


The Automator tiff to jpeg or HEIC looks like this:





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Dec 21, 2020 11:30 AM in response to rusty415

Hi there, rusty415.


It appears that you're having a problem exporting photos from the Photos app on your Mac. They're not including the keyword you've added, and we're glad to help with this.


Export photos, videos and slide shows from Photos on Mac - Apple Support -- This section of the Photo User Guide, explains how to export your photos to include the keywords you've been assigning.


Get Support -- If your keywords still aren't being exported, please contact Apple Support. Choose Music, Apps & Services > Mac apps > Photos > The topic is not listed. Briefly describe the issue, then Continue.


All the best!

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Dec 21, 2020 12:20 PM in response to rusty415

Export the photo as a TIFF to include all metadata.


Another option might be to export unmodified original with IPTC metadata and then combine the with GraphicConverter or exiftool's tags from file command.


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252097447


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252105573

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Apr 7, 2021 6:12 AM in response to SGotthardt

> Your proposal might work but it reads as if this is very cumbersome


No, those workarounds are not practical ;-]


The workflow depends on whether the user want to preserve any pixels edits or metadata edits, or both. And whether s/he wants to prevent any generation loss in decoding/encoding the pixels in lossy formats like .jpg.


> How do I combine sidecar .xmp to .jpeg? You can use tools like GraphicConverter or exiftool. But there is yet another annoying Photos.app 6.0 .xmp error in western & southern GPS (see below).


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252258329


It seems Photos.app 6.0 should automatically combine .xmp to .jpg when importing. I was surprised to find out that Photos.app 4.0 does that (but it imported all times as 00.00 at least when I briefly tried it).


> "convert .jpeg suffix to .jpg"


That simple task can be handled by manually correcting the suffix or with one click in apps like GraphicConverter. But there is a risk for duplicates if that detail is ignored.

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Apr 28, 2021 12:16 PM in response to Deepgreen2009

Just an iPhone and photos from the web I've added descriptions, keywords and locations to.


Try this: boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support and see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.


NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files




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May 1, 2021 10:40 AM in response to Old Toad

Here's my report: The battery issue is noted, but the term "service" is (almost) amusing as batteries are only replaced, not serviced! I use my MBP on mains power 95% of the time anyway.


Anyway, it would be interesting to see if anything concerning my Photos poor performance can be gleaned from the report.

EtreCheckPro version: 6.4.4 (6E015) Report generated: 2021-05-01 18:35:20 Download EtreCheckPro from https://etrecheck.com Runtime: 2:29 Performance: Excellent Problem: No problem - just checking Description: Photos - a frequent problem; after editing a shot, minimising that pho to causes it to show as a grey thumbnail, and then as white when selec ted/maximised again. The photo can only be made to show when â editâ i s clicked and further changes are made. The issue is sometimes, but n ot always, cured by re-booting. Also, my Canon EOS R5 photos are miss ing metadata including basics such as ISO settings. This has carried forward into my current update to Big Sur 11.3. Major Issues: Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention. Time Machine backup out-of-date - The last Time Machine backup is over 10 days old. Battery failure - Your battery is reporting that it needs to be serviced. Adware - Adware detected. Minor Issues: These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems or opportunities for improvement. Time Machine auto backup disabled - Time Machine auto backups are disabled. Heavy RAM usage - Apps are using a large amount of RAM. Small backup drive - Time Machine backup drive is too small. Apps with heavy CPU usage - There have been numerous cases of apps with heavy CPU usage. Clean up - There are orphan files that could be removed. Unsigned files - There are unsigned software files installed. Apple has said that unsigned software will not run by default in a future version of the operating system. Kernel extensions present - This computer has kernel extensions that may not work in the future. Hardware Information: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018-2019) MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro15,1 2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 (i7-8850H) CPU: 6-core 16 GB RAM - Not upgradeable BANK 0/ChannelA-DIMM0 - 8 GB DDR4 2400 BANK 2/ChannelB-DIMM0 - 8 GB DDR4 2400 Battery: Health = Service Battery - Cycle count = 395 Video Information: Intel UHD Graphics 630 - VRAM: 1536 MB Radeon Pro 560X - VRAM: 4 GB Color LCD (built-in) 3360 x 2100 Drives: disk0 - APPLE SSD AP2048M 2.00 TB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes) Internal PCI-Express 8.0 GT/s x4 NVM Express disk0s1 - EFI [EFI] 315 MB disk0s2 [APFS Container] 2.00 TB disk1 [APFS Virtual drive] 2.00 TB (Shared by 6 volumes) disk1s1 - Macintosh HD - Data (APFS) [APFS Virtual drive] (Shared - 1.49 TB used) disk1s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] (Shared - 461 MB used) disk1s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (Shared - 622 MB used) disk1s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] (Shared - 9.66 GB used) disk1s5 (APFS) [APFS Container] (Shared - 15.35 GB used) disk1s5s1 - Macintosh HD (APFS) [APFS Snapshot] (Shared - 15.35 GB used) disk1s6 - Update (APFS) (Shared - 2 MB used) Mounted Volumes: disk1s1 - Macintosh HD - Data [APFS Virtual drive] 2.00 TB (Shared - 1.49 TB used, 487.85 GB available, 486.23 GB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/Data Encrypted disk1s2 - Preboot [APFS Preboot] 2.00 TB (Shared - 461 MB used, 486.23 GB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/Preboot disk1s4 - VM [APFS VM] 2.00 TB (Shared - 9.66 GB used, 486.23 GB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/VM disk1s5s1 - Macintosh HD [APFS Snapshot] 2.00 TB (Shared - 15.35 GB used, 487.85 GB available, 486.23 GB free) APFS Mount point: / Read-only: Yes disk1s6 - Update 2.00 TB (Shared - 2 MB used, 486.23 GB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/Update disk4s2 - A************o 2.76 GB (2.55 GB used, 213 MB free) Mac OS Extended Disk Image Mount point: /Volumes/A************o Owners enabled: No Read-only: Yes Network: Interface SAMSUNG_MDM: SAMSUNG Modem Interface en6: TomTom Interface en0: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Interface en5: Bluetooth PAN 2 Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge 2 System Software: macOS Big Sur 11.3 (20E232) Time since boot: About 3 days Notifications: EtreCheckPro.app one notification Google Chrome.app one notification Security: Gatekeeper: App Store and identified developers System Integrity Protection: Enabled Antivirus software: Apple Adware: Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.macmechanic.mmhlpr.plist Executable: ~/Library/Application Support/mmc/mmhlpr.app/Contents/MacOS/mmhlpr Reason: Adware name match Unsigned Files: Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.wdc.WDPrivilegedHelper.plist Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.wdc.WDPrivilegedHelper Details: Exact match found in the legitimate list - probably OK Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.sony.WirelessAutoImportLauncher.agent.plist Executable: /Library/Application Support/WirelessAutoImport/WirelessImporterDaemon Details: Exact match found in the legitimate list - probably OK Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist Executable: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/OSInstaller.framework/Resources/OSMessageTracer Details: Exact match found in the legitimate list - probably OK Login Item: /Applications/Kies.app/Contents/MacOS/KiesAgent.app Login Item: ~/Library/Application Support/.FUS/fuspredownloader.app Apps: 5 Kernel Extensions: /Library/Extensions [Not Loaded] hp_io_enabler_compound.kext - com.hp.kext.io.enabler.compound (3.4.0) [Loaded] SONYDeviceType04.kext - com.sony.driver.dsccamDeviceInfo00 (1.4.0.11070 - SDK 10.9) ~/Applications/Kies.app [Not Loaded] ssuddrv.kext - com.devguru.driver.SamsungComposite (1.4.32 - SDK 10.6) System Launch Agents: [Not Loaded] 16 Apple tasks [Loaded] 181 Apple tasks [Running] 136 Apple tasks [Other] One Apple task System Launch Daemons: [Not Loaded] 35 Apple tasks [Loaded] 178 Apple tasks [Running] 147 Apple tasks [Other] One Apple task Launch Agents: [Running] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2020-03-24) [Running] com.adobe.GC.AGM.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2021-04-14) [Not Loaded] com.adobe.GC.Invoker-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2021-04-14) [Loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2021-03-04) [Loaded] com.google.keystone.xpcservice.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2021-03-04) [Other] com.sony.SonyAutoLauncher.agent.plist (Sony Corporation - installed 2017-12-06) [Other] com.sony.WirelessAutoImportLauncher.agent.plist (? c33fba7e - installed 2017-12-06) Launch Daemons: [Loaded] com.adobe.acc.installer.v2.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2020-03-24) [Loaded] com.adobe.agsservice.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2021-04-14) [Loaded] com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist (? dbb717cc - installed 2019-09-19) [Loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2021-03-04) [Loaded] com.wdc.WDPrivilegedHelper.plist (? 9f7f4405 - installed 2016-12-21) User Launch Agents: [Not Loaded] com.adobe.GC.Invoker-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2021-04-14) [Loaded] com.adobe.ccxprocess.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2020-04-21) [Other] com.hmcphlpr.hmcphlpr.plist (? 0 - installed ) [Other] com.macmechanic.mmhlpr.plist (Adware - installed ) [Other] com.macmechanic.mwmhphlpr.plist (? 0 - installed ) [Other] com.pcv.hlprmcp.plist (? 0 - installed ) [Other] com.techyutil.Utility.plist (? 0 - installed ) User Login Items: [Running] Backup and Sync (Google, Inc. - installed 2021-03-12) Application /Applications/Backup and Sync.app [Not Loaded] XE2XNRRXZ5.com.canon.Digital-Photo-Professional-4.Cloud-Develop.Beta.Dpp4XPCDCCHelper (Canon Inc. - installed 2021-03-18) Modern Login Item /Applications/Canon Utilities/Digital Photo Professional 4/Digital Photo Professional 4.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/XE2XNRRXZ5.com.canon.Digital-Photo-Professional-4.Cloud-Develop.Beta.Dpp4XPCDCCHelper.app [Running] EOS Utility (Canon Inc. - installed 2020-08-21) Application /Applications/Canon Utilities/EOS Utility/EOS Utility.app [Loaded] KiesAgent (? - installed 2016-12-06) Application /Applications/Kies.app/Contents/MacOS/KiesAgent.app [Loaded] Pages (App Store - installed 2021-03-24) Application /Applications/Pages.app [Loaded] WDDriveUtilityHelper (Western Digital Corporation Branded Products Group - installed 2016-12-21) Application /Applications/WD Drive Utilities.app/Contents/WDDriveUtilityHelper.app [Not Loaded] HP Device Monitor (HP Inc. - installed 2017-10-25) Modern Login Item /Library/Printers/hp/Frameworks/HPDeviceMonitoring.framework/Versions/1.0/Helpers/HP Device Monitor Manager.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/HP Device Monitor.app [Not Loaded] HP Product Research (HP Inc. - installed 2017-10-25) Modern Login Item /Library/Printers/hp/Utilities/HPPU Plugins/ProductImprovementStudy.hptask/Contents/Helpers/HP Product Research Manager.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/HP Product Research.app [Loaded] fuspredownloader (? - installed 2016-12-06) Application ~/Library/Application Support/.FUS/fuspredownloader.app Internet Plug-ins: AdobeAAMDetect: 3.0.0.0 (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2020-03-24) Backup: Skip System Files: No Auto backup: No Volumes being backed up: Macintosh HD - Data: Disk size: 2.00 TB - Disk used: 1.51 TB Destinations: S*******B [Local] (Last used) Total size: 524.77 GB Total number of backups: 1 Oldest backup: 2019-02-01 20:47:08 Last backup: 2019-02-01 20:47:08 Performance: System Load: 2.49 (1 min ago) 2.28 (5 min ago) 1.99 (15 min ago) Nominal I/O speed: 1.13 MB/s File system: 17.92 seconds Write speed: 2850 MB/s Read speed: 3113 MB/s CPU Usage Snapshot: Type Overall System: 1 % User: 3 % Idle: 96 % Top Processes Snapshot by CPU: Process (count) CPU (Source - Location) EtreCheckPro 15.60 % (Etresoft, Inc.) WindowServer 8.66 % (Apple) Google Chrome Helper (Renderer) (44) 5.64 % (Google, Inc.) 5KPlayer 4.76 % (Digiarty Software, Inc.) kernel_task 2.12 % (Apple) Top Processes Snapshot by Memory: Process (count) RAM usage (Source - Location) Google Chrome Helper (Renderer) (44) 2.94 GB (Google, Inc.) Photos 969 MB (Apple) EtreCheckPro 649 MB (Etresoft, Inc.) Dock 515 MB (Apple) Affinity Photo 430 MB (Serif (Europe) Ltd.) Top Processes Snapshot by Network Use: Process (count) Input / Output (Source - Location) 5KPlayer 42 MB / 258 B (Digiarty Software, Inc.) mDNSResponder 3 MB / 2 MB (Apple) netbiosd 2 MB / 187 KB (Apple) remoted 885 KB / 1 MB (Apple) biometrickitd 510 KB / 103 KB (Apple) Top Processes Snapshot by Energy Use: Process (count) Energy (0-100) (Source - Location) Google Chrome Helper (Renderer) (44) 4 (Google, Inc.) WindowServer 3 (Apple) 5KPlayer 2 (Digiarty Software, Inc.) Maps 1 (Apple) airportd 1 (Apple) Virtual Memory Information: Physical RAM: 16 GB Free RAM: 570 MB Used RAM: 9.41 GB Cached files: 6.03 GB Available RAM: 6.59 GB Swap Used: 7.75 GB Software Installs (past 60 days): Install Date Name (Version) 2021-03-05 iMovie (10.2.3) 2021-03-16 macOS 11.2.3 (11.2.3) 2021-03-24 Numbers (11.0) 2021-03-24 Pages (11.0) 2021-03-30 Keynote (11.0) 2021-04-07 GarageBand (10.4.3) 2021-04-10 what3words (1.0.7) 2021-04-28 macOS 11.3 (11.3) 2021-04-29 VideoPad Video Editor (10.36) 2021-04-30 XProtectPlistConfigData (2145) 2021-04-30 MRTConfigData (1.78) Clean up: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.pcv.hlprmcp.plist ~/Library/Application Support/mcp/helpermcp.app/Contents/MacOS/helpermcp Executable not found ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.macmechanic.mwmhphlpr.plist ~/Library/Application Support/mwmhp/mwmhphlpr.app/Contents/MacOS/mwmhphlpr Executable not found ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.hmcphlpr.hmcphlpr.plist ~/Library/Application Support/hmcp/hmcphlpr.app/Contents/MacOS/hmcphlpr Executable not found ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.techyutil.Utility.plist ~/Library/Application Support/.utility/Utility.app/Contents/MacOS/Utility Executable not found Diagnostics Information (past 7-30 days): 2021-05-01 15:30:56 GIMP-2.10.app High CPU Use Executable: /Applications/GIMP-2.10.app 2021-05-01 15:10:54 Backup and sync from Google 2.app Crash Executable: /Applications/Backup and sync from Google 2.app Details: objc_msgSend() selector name: updatePath:withStatus: 2021-04-30 22:00:52 signpost_reporter High CPU Use (3 times) Executable: /usr/libexec/signpost_reporter 2021-04-30 18:51:10 iMovie.app High CPU Use Executable: /Applications/iMovie.app 2021-04-30 10:00:54 syspolicyd High CPU Use Executable: /usr/libexec/syspolicyd 2021-04-29 19:33:42 photoanalysisd High CPU Use Executable: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/PhotoAnalysis.framework/Versions/A/Support/photoanalysisd 2021-04-28 17:14:23 WDDriveUtilityHelper.app High CPU Use (2 times) Executable: /Applications/WD Drive Utilities.app/Contents/WDDriveUtilityHelper.app Details: BUG IN CLIENT OF LIBPTHREAD: Unable to allocate thread port, possible port leak 2021-04-26 22:24:05 photolibraryd Crash Executable: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/PhotoLibraryServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/photolibraryd Details: dyld3 mode End of report


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May 2, 2021 2:35 AM in response to jimwong

Obviously Big Sur Photos.app 6.0 has been updated (from 330.0.150 to 340.0.221 in macOS 11.2 to 11.3) but I guess major fixes (and new bugs...) will be introduced in the next major macOS update.


I just tested macOS 11.3 Photos.app and the Captions, Titles and Keywords are not exported to .jpeg. They are exported to .tiff (and also .png although I did not verify it now). Location is exported to .jpeg and .tiff (although Preview does not show it in .tiff) but if I re-export .tiff with Preview as .jpg or .heic, the location is not included.


One workaround is to export unmodified originals with IPTC and join the metadata that Photos.app has updated in the .xmp to the original .jpg with GraphicConverter or exiftool (but do notice that the .xmp error in western and Southern Hemispheres needs a workaround in exiftool):


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252258329

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May 26, 2021 12:20 AM in response to rusty415

This appears to finally be fixed in macOS 11.4!


What's new in the updates for macOS Big Sur

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT211896#macos114 has this gem:

This release also fixes the following issues:

Keywords may not be included when exporting a photo from the Photos app
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Apr 15, 2021 7:07 AM in response to rusty415

Keywords are normally kept in the IPTC data, not EXIF data, and in some image types, the keywords may appear in the XMP data. In Photos 6 on macOS 11.2.3, I can export the unmodified original of a selected photo containing IPTC keywords, and retain those keywords in the exported image using these settings:



The exported image retains the keywords viewable in Preview, the third-party ExifTool, etc. There is also an image named .xmp ASCII data file created.

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May 1, 2021 9:46 AM in response to Deepgreen2009

Download and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.


IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck in the Etrecheck's Privacy preference pane so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:


Also click and read the About info to further permit full disk access.



Copy the report



and use the Additional Text button to include the report in your reply.



Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine what might be causing the problem.


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May 25, 2021 4:40 PM in response to hookemh0rns

It's working for me on some photos but not all. I checked a few and those I got via Messages don't include the metadata. So far those are the only photos that don't export properly.


Have you tried it on several randomly selected photos that you've added keywords, titles and descriptions to?


How are you checking the exported jpeg file for the metadata? I use Preview to check the IPTC metadata.




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Dec 21, 2020 2:25 PM in response to Matti Haveri

I can confirm that adding arbitrary keywords to an original JPG image in Photos on macOS 11.1 does not export that IPTC information, but changing the export image type to TIFF does include them, and they are viewable in Preview, and other applications that reveal the IPTC info. These are also exposed by the command-line mdls application's kMDItemKeywords.

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Feb 16, 2021 12:01 PM in response to SnickZ.

Hello,


I do not understand what you want to tell me by referring to the User Guide and the Apple Support ?!?!?


1) User Guide: I know the user guide and this user guide "claims" that I am able to export photos including keywords. However it does not work !!!!! I can read the user guide again and again, but it will not help. I do need a solution and a bug fix but not a reference to an outdated user guide.


2) Apple Support: I tried to contact the Apple Support but after entering the serial number of my MacBook Pro 2016 I got the response "there is no Apple Support for your product". Therefore, please do not refer me to a support that does not want to help me.


As I can read from other users, this bug is linked to the introduction of BigSur. It would already be helpful, if Apple admitted this instead of leading me to nowhere.


Many thanks


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Mar 6, 2021 11:41 AM in response to rusty415

Sadly this Apple Big Sur bug is STILL in the newest download 11.2.2. I keep hoping a patch update will fix this. It is adding a huge amount of extra work and I now have a large external set of images missing Caption and Tags. I have submitted this as a bug twice to Apple. And it is well reported in online forums. Can't understand why Apple can't fix something that was working before?

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Photos 6.0 app on Big Sur doesn't export keywords in EXIF data

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