'Shopped' App Lets You Expose Fake Images on Your iPhone

Everyday Apps LLC has launched an iPhone and iPad app that tells you whether a photograph has been doctored, or photoshopped, as they say.

Shopped (actual application name with a question mark) uses advanced heatmap filtration technology to check virtually photos for evidence of digital manipulation.

“Ever looked at a photo and wondered if it’s a fake? Maybe it’s a shot of a famous movie star in a scandalous pose. Or a picture in the newspaper that seems strangely suspicious,” reads the iTunes description. “You can […] save the filtered image and export your ‘proof’ to share with friends, family—or the world!”, according to the developer.

Michael Thomason, managing member of Everyday Apps, offers his personal take on the matter, saying “Today, there’s more skepticism regarding the authenticity of images that appear online and in newspapers and magazines.

“Whether it’s a celebrity photo from the tabloids or a snapshot from a political news piece, a startling number of photos are doctored before they go to press. The American public values the truth in media reporting, and I’ve given them a tool to uncover that truth,” he said.

Thomason said he got the idea for Shopped a few years ago after reading about people using a similar technology to expose doctored imagery.

“I had this idea I could build an app using the same technology, and I did,” he says. The technology is also being used in law enforcement.

Thomason believes “Shopped? appeals to people’s innate curiosity, and I think it will spark some controversy,” he said.

To use the app, you can import images from your photo library, the web, email or other apps, and you can export images to your photo library, blogs, email, social networking platforms and even other apps that support external files. You can just as well print the images and adjust the color settings to make the errors more visible.

The $0.99 app (0.79 €) is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad and requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Download Shopped? for iOS