Does it work without cell service?

Yes. Capture, hashing, and filing to a ticket all happen on the device. GPS is satellite based and does not need a data connection, though a fix can take longer in the open with no assist data.

What happens if there is no GPS fix?

The photo still saves and is stamped NO GPS FIX. Reduced accuracy and simulated location are flagged the same way, on the photo and in the record. The app never quietly records a position it is not confident in.

Where do my photos go?

They stay on your device. Ironclad has no servers and never receives them. Two things are worth naming plainly: drawing the optional map page in an evidence package asks Apple Maps for a map image using the photo coordinates, and the stamped copy saved to your Photos library follows your own Photos and iCloud settings.

How does the hash actually help me?

Each original is hashed with SHA-256 at capture. Later you can have the app compare the stored file against that recorded hash, so you can show the photo is the same one the camera produced. It demonstrates the file is unchanged. It does not prove what the photo depicts.

Is there a subscription?

No subscription and no upsells. There is no account to create and nothing to log into.

Is there an Android version?

Not currently. CYA Snapper is iPhone only.

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CYA Snapper · iPhone

Evidence-grade locate documentation.

CYA Snapper is a camera built for utility locators and pipeline field crews who have to document their marks before a dig. Open the app, shoot, and every photo is recorded with the details that matter if a line is ever struck.

Download on the App Store

No subscription and no upsells

Built by someone who has run thousands of locate tickets and ran the new-hire training for locators, alongside a company with 30 years in pipeline construction and inspection leadership. The documentation problem here is not theoretical. It is what the work gets judged on after everyone has gone home.

A photo taken with CYA Snapper of a construction site with excavated dirt piles beside a brick building, with a black stamp burned across the bottom reading the coordinates, accuracy of plus or minus 87 meters, altitude, bearing, local and UTC timestamps, device and app version — A capture as it looks on the phone. The stamp is part of the image, not an overlay added later.

The problem

A line gets struck weeks after you marked it. The question is what was on the ground when you left, and the answer is a photo in a camera roll with no accuracy reading, no bearing, and nothing to show it has not been touched since.

The documentation is only worth what it can demonstrate later.

Who it is for

Utility locators, damage prevention crews, pipeline field techs, and the inspectors who follow them. Anyone whose work is judged after the fact by what they can produce.

Who it is not for

People looking for a consumer camera with a location watermark. This is built around work tickets, accuracy thresholds, and an evidence record, and it will feel like overkill for anything else.

Anyone expecting it to locate a utility. It documents what you marked. It does not find the line.

Anyone who needs a legal determination. The app records and hashes what your camera captured. Whether that satisfies a court, a regulator, or a claim is decided by them, not by an app and not by us.

Android users. This is iPhone only.

What every capture records

GPS coordinates with an accuracy reading, altitude, and compass bearing
Device time at the location fix and at the shutter, in local time and UTC
A SHA-256 hash of the original photo as captured, so you can show it is unchanged
The device, OS, and app version

What you actually hand over

Export a ticket and you get an evidence package: a cover stating the integrity check result, a map of where each photo was taken, and a page per photo carrying the stamped image, the full record, and the SHA-256 of the original.

A page from a CYA Snapper evidence package showing a stamped photo of a work site, with the coordinates, accuracy, altitude, bearing, local and UTC time, time source, and device listed beneath it — One photo page from a real exported package. The stamp is burned into the image, and the same values are listed as a record underneath.

Evidence package cover page reading Evidence documentation, with ticket status, photo count, capture dates, generation time, and a line stating that the integrity check found one of one original matched the hash recorded at capture — The cover leads with the integrity result, and states plainly that the app does not determine any legal outcome.

Tamper-evident, and checkable

Each original is hashed with SHA-256 at capture. The app compares the stored files against that recorded hash on demand, checks the photo list against what is actually in storage, and restores readable records without rewriting capture or ticket history.

That is the difference between saying a photo is unchanged and being able to show it.

CYA Snapper helps you document your locates. It does not make any legal determination. Admissibility is decided by a court, not by an app.

CYA Snapper settings screen showing evidence storage, which compares originals against the SHA-256 recorded at capture and reports that six photos were checked and the photo list already matched storage — The integrity check, run against the hash recorded at capture

Built around the ticket, not the camera roll

Photos file to a work ticket, with the one-call center, work address, work type, and the contractor or excavator on the job. The fields are the ones already on the paperwork, so filing is recall rather than translation.

Shoot everything first. File at the truck when your hands are free.

CYA Snapper new ticket form with fields for ticket number, one-call center, work address, work type, contractor or excavator, and notes — Ticket fields that match the paperwork already in the truck

Built for the field

Horizontal accuracy is visible before you shoot. Green means under 5 meters reported accuracy
The shutter is never blocked by paperwork. Shoot first, file to a ticket at the truck
Reduced accuracy, no fix, and simulated location are flagged loudly, on the photo and in the record
With Photos access allowed, a stamped copy is saved to your library so you keep your own

Your data stays yours

No account and no subscription. Ironclad has no servers and never receives your data. No tracking and no analytics.

Evidence packages leave your device only when you export them. Two things are worth naming plainly rather than leaving in the fine print: drawing the optional map page in a package asks Apple Maps for a map image using the photo coordinates, and the stamped copy saved to your Photos library follows your own Photos and iCloud settings.

Straight answers

Does it work without cell service?: Yes. Capture, hashing, and filing to a ticket all happen on the device. GPS is satellite based and does not need a data connection, though a fix can take longer in the open with no assist data.
What happens if there is no GPS fix?: The photo still saves and is stamped NO GPS FIX. Reduced accuracy and simulated location are flagged the same way, on the photo and in the record. The app never quietly records a position it is not confident in.
Where do my photos go?: They stay on your device. Ironclad has no servers and never receives them. Two things are worth naming plainly: drawing the optional map page in an evidence package asks Apple Maps for a map image using the photo coordinates, and the stamped copy saved to your Photos library follows your own Photos and iCloud settings.
How does the hash actually help me?: Each original is hashed with SHA-256 at capture. Later you can have the app compare the stored file against that recorded hash, so you can show the photo is the same one the camera produced. It demonstrates the file is unchanged. It does not prove what the photo depicts.
Is there a subscription?: No subscription and no upsells. There is no account to create and nothing to log into.
Is there an Android version?: Not currently. CYA Snapper is iPhone only.

Built by someone who ran the tickets

This was not designed from a product spec. It came from running thousands of locate tickets and then training the people who would run them next. Every field this app records is one that mattered when a locate was questioned later, and nothing is here because it demoed well.

Download on the App Store

iPhone, iOS 17 or later