What is the difference between Apple Reference Image and On Record?

Apple Reference Image signs the pixels a photo was made from, on an iPhone 18 Pro in Reference mode, and keeps a reference copy in Photos for comparison. On Record seals when and where a photo or video was taken and publishes it with a code, so the proof travels with the picture and anyone can check it at onrecord.live/verify without an Apple device or account.

Does On Record work on iPhone and Android?

Yes. On Record is a free app for iPhone and Android. Every capture made in the app is sealed at the moment it is taken; no particular phone model or camera mode is needed.

Can I verify an On Record photo without the app?

Yes. Each capture carries a code printed next to the on record mark. Enter it at onrecord.live/verify, call the free REST endpoint, or ask an AI assistant connected to On Record Verify. The record is public and anchored into Bitcoin, so you do not have to take On Record's word for it.

Does On Record detect fake or AI-generated images from elsewhere?

No. On Record proves what was captured in its own app: when, where, and that it has not been changed since. A photo from elsewhere has no On Record code, and the verifier says so without judging the image itself.

on record

Apple Reference Image and On Record: what each one proves

One signs the pixels. The other seals when and where, and the proof travels with the picture.

In September 2026 Apple shipped Reference Image with the iPhone 18 Pro. It is a genuinely good piece of work, and it put “prove a photo is real” in front of a mass audience for the first time. This page is for anyone trying to understand what it proves, what On Record proves, and why those are two different halves of the same question.

What Apple shipped

From Apple's own announcement:

The iPhone 18 Pro's main camera sensor can sign every pixel it sees.
It works in an opt-in Reference mode in the Camera app, chosen before the shot.
The signed sensor data is developed on Apple's Private Cloud Compute into a reference image that cannot be altered.
The reference sits in Photos beside the main image, like a digital negative, for visual comparison.
Apps on iOS, iPadOS and macOS 27 can view reference images through new APIs.
At launch, capture is not available in the EU, and the feature is not available in China.

So the question Apple answers is: did these pixels come from this sensor, unaltered? For an owner of that phone, in that mode, looking in Photos, the answer is yes, and that is worth having.

The other half of the question

The fakes that do real damage were mostly never made by AI. They are real photographs, taken on real cameras, that would pass every sensor check there is, reused from another place, another date, another event. A flood photo from 2019 captioned as today. A crowd from one city presented as another. Signing the pixels says nothing about whether the incident is what the caption claims.

The hard part was never the signing. It is what happens to the proof after the file leaves the phone.

On Record answers that half: when and where was this taken, and has it been touched since? Every photo and video made in the On Record app is sealed at the moment it is taken, by On Record's Authenticity Chain, and posted with a code printed next to the on record mark. The code is an address. Anyone can fake a mark; nobody can fake the record it points to, because that record is public and anchored into Bitcoin.

Where the two differ

	Apple Reference Image	On Record
What it proves	The pixels came from this sensor, unaltered	When and where it was taken, and that it has not been changed since
Where the proof lives	In Photos, on the device, through Apple's servers. Share the photo and the reference stays behind	With the picture. The code on the image points at a public record anyone can open
Who can check it	The owner, in Photos; apps on Apple platforms through viewing APIs	Anyone with the code: a web page, a free API, or an AI assistant. No account, no Apple device
What you need	iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max, Reference mode switched on before the shot	Any iPhone or Android, the free On Record app. Every capture is sealed; there is no mode to remember
Who vouches	Apple	A public record anchored into Bitcoin. You do not have to take On Record's word for it
What it is	A camera feature	A social platform: the place you post is the place it is proven

Apple's description of Reference Image is taken from its announcement. Where Apple has not published a detail, this page does not guess at it.

Why a platform, not a tool

Signing tools have existed for years. What none of them had was a place to post. A camera app hands you a file; you still go somewhere else to be seen, and the proof becomes someone else's problem the moment you do. On Record is the world's first social platform to capture and share undeniable truth: the capture, the seal and the audience are in one place, and the proof goes wherever the picture goes.

See it, rather than take our word

This capture was sealed on 13 August 2026 in Greater Kailash, Delhi, and anchored into Bitcoin in block 966645, four weeks before Apple's announcement:

onrecord.live/verify/6283C174B233

Developers and AI assistants can check any code the same way: onrecord.live/developers.

Honest limits

On Record proves what was captured in its own app. A photo from elsewhere has no code, and the verifier says so without judging the image.
Apple Reference Image is for iPhone 18 Pro owners who choose Reference mode. Within that, it does what it says.
The two are not in each other's way. A phone that can sign its pixels and a platform that seals when and where, in public, are better together than apart.

Record what matters. Timestamped. Located. Verified.

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