I have a method in my Android application that extracts the location (longitude and latitude) from a photo using ExifInterface. The code works fine on Android 10 but fails on Android 13. Here’s the method:

private fun getLocationAndMoveOn() {
        if (hasMediaLocationPermission(requireContext())) {
            val pickedPhotoData = libraryViewModel.viewState.pickedPhoto.value?.DATA ?: return
            if (hasSdkHigherThan(Build.VERSION_CODES.P)) {
                val uri = Uri.parse("file://$pickedPhotoData")
                activity?.contentResolver?.openInputStream(uri)?.use { stream ->
                    ExifInterface(stream).run {
                        val latLong = FloatArray(2)
                        if (getLatLong(latLong)) {
                            val location = Location("").apply {
                                latitude = latLong[0].toDouble()
                                longitude = latLong[1].toDouble()
                            }
                            navigateToLocation(location)
                        } else {
                            showPhotoLocationDataDialog()
                        }
                    }
                }
            } else {
                val location = GeoDataUtils.geoDegree(ExifInterface(pickedPhotoData))
                navigateToLocation(location)
            }
        } else {
            requestMediaLocationPermission(requireActivity(), REQUEST_PERMISSION_MEDIA_ACCESS)
        }
    }

What the code does:

•   It takes a file address (pickedPhotoData) and, using ExifInterface, gets the location where the photo was taken.

Issue:

•   This code works fine on Android 10.
•   On Android 13, getLatLong(latLong) always returns false, indicating that the location data cannot be retrieved from the photo’s EXIF metadata.

What I’ve tried:

•   Checked permissions to ensure the app has the necessary permissions to access the photo.
•   Verified that the photo contains location metadata.
•   Looked into alternative libraries but haven’t found a suitable solution yet.

My question:

•   How can I reliably get the location (longitude and latitude) from a photo on Android 13?
•   Are there any modern libraries or methods to handle this that work across different Android versions?

Additional information:

•   I’ve ensured the app has the necessary permissions to read media files.
•   The photo does contain location metadata when checked on other devices and software.

Any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated!