Witness CameraGenerate a PDF evidence report from a video recording
Something a lawyer, an editor or an insurer can read, without exposing the footage.
Video is hard to hand around: it is large, it identifies people and it cannot be skimmed. A report about the video, with proof it is intact, is often what the next person needs first. Witness Pro produces one. Written by the developer of Witness Camera, so read it with that in mind; where another approach is better, it says so.
Short answer. A Witness evidence package, available with Pro, turns a finished recording into a PDF report plus the manifest and time-stamp proof it describes. The report lists the recording's start and end, time zone, number of segments, capture device, first location fix, the hashes of every segment and any merged video, and the steps to verify them. It contains no video, so it can be shared without exposing the footage. It is built from the phone's own archive, so it works offline and after the footage has been cleared from the device.
What is in a package
- A PDF report with sections for the session (start, end, time zone, segment count), the capture device, the first location fix, the authenticity details, the segment hashes and any consolidated videos.
- The manifest, manifest.json, which the report describes.
- The time-stamp proof, where one was obtained.
It contains no video, so it can go to a lawyer, an editor or an insurer before anyone decides whether to share the footage.
How it is built
From the phone's local archive, not from your cloud account. It keeps working with no network and no Google account, and long after the footage itself has been cleared off the device. Open Evidence packages on the Pro page, pick a finished recording and export.
What it establishes
It documents that the footage existed in this form at a time and shows how to verify that. It does not establish what the footage depicts, and it makes no claim about admissibility. See the lawyers' guide.
Free versus Pro
The recordings and their proofs are kept either way. Pro adds the report. Price: $1.99 a month or $29.99 once on the US App Store. See Is Witness Pro worth it?
Questions
What does the Witness evidence package contain?
A PDF report, the manifest.json it describes and the time-stamp proof where one was obtained. It contains no video.
Does it work offline?
Yes. It is built from the phone's local archive, so it works with no network and after the footage has been cleared off the device.
Is it free?
The recordings and proofs are free. The report is a Pro feature.
Does the report prove the footage is genuine?
It documents that the footage existed in this form at a time and how to verify it. It does not prove what the footage depicts.
Try it free
The free app includes this. Set it up and test it before you need it.
More Witness features explained
- Witness features explained
- Stealth mode camera apps for iPhone and Android: what they can and cannot hide
- How to hash video footage and prove it has not been altered
- Trusted timestamp for video: how RFC 3161 time-stamping works
- Chain of custody for video: what a manifest records and how to check it
- Record video straight to cloud storage while you are still recording
- Send video and your location to a trusted contact while you record
- Burn a timestamp and GPS location into video on iPhone and Android
- Start recording video without unlocking your phone
- Record video straight to Nextcloud or your own WebDAV server
- Trim silence out of video automatically: the highlight cut
- Record with the front and rear camera at once on iPhone and Android
- Record video on a weak connection: how Witness sends a preview first
- Does Witness encrypt video? What protects footage and what does not
- How to blur faces and anonymise voices in protest video, and why it is hard
- Witness for Professionals: how Witness Pro works
Written on 27 October 2026. Features and prices change. This is not legal advice.