If you are here, it is probably because you are tired of seeing multiple copies of the same photos in your iPhone photo library, or perhaps you have already tried some apps to delete duplicate photos, before realizing that they did not give you the expected results.
The good news? Yes, you still have plenty of options. Below are five of the best apps for deleting duplicate photos on iPhone, along with their main features, pricing, pros, and cons.
Why is the iPhone's built-in tool not always enough?
As you may already know, since iOS 16, Apple has added a Duplicate album to the Photos app. It analyzes your photo library, groups identical photos, and then allows you to merge or delete them.
If you have never used it before, you can find it by opening Photos > Collections > Other > Duplicates.
And let's be honest, this tool does its job quite well. But it also has some limitations.
- The Duplicate Photos album doesn't update immediately. For older photos, this is usually not a problem. However, new images must first be analyzed and indexed by the iPhone. As a result, duplicates can take several hours, and sometimes even a few days, to appear. You can speed up the process a bit by leaving your iPhone charging and without using it, but you will still have to wait.
- Apple's tool only detects exact copies. These typically appear after restoring from a backup, downloading the same photo multiple times, or transferring it between devices. The problem is that it doesn't detect photos that are simply similar. If you took five pictures of the same person a second apart, slightly changed the shooting angle, or saved several screenshots that differ by only a few pixels, they will never appear in the Duplicates album, even after waiting several days.
This is precisely where third-party apps become valuable. They analyze your photo library instantly and use algorithms capable of finding not only identical copies, but also photos that look alike. The apps below are among the best tools we've found for cleaning up your photo library.
The 5 best apps to delete duplicate photos on iPhone
Below are five apps that can help you clean up your iPhone's photo library. For each one, we've included a short description, some screenshots of the interface (because, for many people, appearance matters almost as much as functionality), and key points to know before downloading. You can now compare the different options and choose the one that best suits your needs.
1. Clever Cleaner – AI Cleaning
Clever Cleaner – AI Cleaning is a free app for deleting duplicate photos, but it is also able to spot visually similar images that the iPhone's built-in Duplicates tool completely misses.
Once you've granted access to your photo library, the app needs a few minutes to analyze your photos. When the analysis is complete, it displays the results in pre-organized groups. For each group, the app uses AI to select what it considers the "Best Shot." Of course, you can always change this selection if you disagree.
From there, you have two ways to remove duplicates. The first is called Smart Cleanup and automatically deletes all extra copies, keeping only the photo marked as best. The second involves reviewing each group, choosing the photos to keep, and deleting the rest at your own pace.
The Similars feature isn't Clever Cleaner's only strength. In addition to finding and deleting duplicate or similar photos, the application offers several tools designed to clean up other types of content in your photo library:
- Lourds sorts your largest photos and videos by size to quickly identify the files that take up the most space.
- Compression reduces the size of videos that take up a lot of space but that you do not want to delete at the moment (the option is available directly in the Large files section).
- Swipe groups photos by month of addition to your photo library and allows you to keep or delete them with a simple gesture.
- Screenshots detects old screenshots and helps you delete them in a few steps.
- Lives converts selected Live Photos into still images to save space without visibly degrading their quality.
Drawbacks :
The drawbacks are actually quite few. The main one is that the sorting options aren't the same in all sections of the application. For example, the Heavy items section offers several sorting modes, while the Similar items function doesn't yet allow sorting groups of duplicates by date.
Price :
At the time of writing, Clever Cleaner is completely free. However, the developers have indicated that early adopters will retain free access indefinitely, even if paid features or a subscription are added later. This suggests that the business model could evolve in the future. It's therefore best to keep an eye on any announcements. on the official website or on the application's page in the App Store.
App Store Page : Link
2. Clean Master – Phone Cleaning
Clean Master – Phone Cleaning is another free software for removing duplicate photos that does a surprisingly effective job when it comes to organizing large photo libraries.
When you start a scan, the app lets you choose a specific time period. This is useful if you only want to delete older duplicates or, conversely, focus on recently added photos. Once the scan is complete, the app groups duplicate and similar images, then automatically selects what it considers the best photo from each group. You can then delete all the extra copies with a single tap or review each group individually to decide which photos to keep.
In addition to its duplicate detection tool, the application also offers some additional features:
- Video management displays your videos from largest to smallest. If a few videos are taking up most of your storage space, you'll spot them immediately.
- Location management sorts photos according to where they were taken. It's a convenient way to review photos from a trip, a concert, or any other event.
- On the main screen, the application also shows the storage space currently used on your iPhone, in gigabytes and as a percentage.
Disadvantages:
Ultimately, there's not much to criticize. Its interface looks a bit dated compared to some of the more modern file cleaners in this selection, and occasional banner ads pop up. This doesn't affect its duplicate file finding capabilities, but it's good to know before downloading the app.
Price:
The application is completely free and appears to be funded by advertising displayed in the interface, rather than by a subscription or one-time purchase.
App Store page: Link
3. Hyper Cleaner: Cleans Photos
Hyper Cleaner: Cleans Photos is another application for sorting duplicate photos, all in a rather pleasant and easy-to-use interface.
The duplicate detection tool works in a fairly standard way. The application begins by analyzing your photo library to identify duplicate photos and similar images. Once the analysis is complete, it compiles the results and allows you to review the photos you no longer need before deleting them.
However, duplicate file finding is only one part of what Hyper Cleaner offers. The application also includes several other tools:
- Large Videos helps identify the largest videos in your photo library so you can delete the ones you no longer need.
- Video compression reduces the size of large videos if you want to save space without deleting them completely.
- Screenshots gathers all your screenshots in one place for easy cleanup.
- Blurry photos attempts to identify poorly focused images that may no longer be worth keeping.
- You can also browse your photos month by month, for each year of your photo library, or view AI-generated albums, such as Cats, Dogs and other automatically recognized categories.
- Contact Cleaner finds duplicate contacts and helps you merge or delete them.
The application also offers some additional features, including a secret space to store photos and videos in a private folder, as well as an ad blocker.
Disadvantages:
The main drawback lies in how the application handles scans. Each time you open the duplicate detection tool, it restarts the scan of your photo library from the beginning instead of reusing previous results. Depending on the size of your library, this can take some time, and the application may occasionally crash or freeze during the scan.
Price:
Hyper Cleaner: Photo Cleaning offers weekly and annual subscriptions. Prices start from €4,99 per week.
App Store page: Link
4. Cleaner Kit: iPhone cleaning
Cleaner Kit: iPhone Cleaning is more of an all-in-one cleaner than an app solely dedicated to duplicate photos. That said, it does offer a fairly comprehensive duplicate detection tool.
The app separates duplicate and similar photos into two distinct modules. In both cases, you can filter the results in various ways: display only items from the last 7 days, the last 30 days, the past year, or previous years; sort photos from newest to oldest, oldest to newest, or prioritize larger files. Once the results are displayed, you can review the groups, choose which photos to keep, and delete the rest.
Duplicate files are therefore only part of what it offers. The application primarily focuses on cleaning up various types of content that take up space on the iPhone. It includes several tools, among others:
- The large video manager allows you to identify the largest video files in your photo library so that you can delete or compress them to free up space without deleting them completely.
- The Screenshots tool gathers all your screenshots in one place for easy cleanup.
- The Blurry Photos feature attempts to identify out-of-focus images that may no longer be worth keeping.
- The Similar Videos tool searches for videos that look alike to help you remove unnecessary copies.
- Swipe cleaning categorizes different types of content and allows you to keep or delete them with a simple gesture.
- The email cleaner helps to sort through your inbox by deleting old messages and unwanted emails.
- The contact cleaner searches for duplicate contacts and allows you to merge or delete them in a few steps.
- Like many all-in-one cleaners, Cleaner Kit also offers some additional features that are not directly related to cleaning, such as widgets and some privacy options.
Drawbacks :
Cleaner Kit's main drawback remains its business model. Most features are only accessible with a subscription, which can quickly become expensive.
Price :
Paid plans start from €4,99. The app offers several subscription options, and you can choose the one that best suits how often you plan to use the cleaner.
App Store page: Link
5. Remo Duplicate Photos Remover
The last app in our selection is Remo Duplicate Photos Remover. It would have been difficult not to mention it, as it's probably one of the oldest duplicate photo cleaners still available on the App Store. And throughout all these years, the app has remained completely free.
The app can detect both exact duplicates and visually similar photos. Once the analysis is complete, it groups the results, allowing you to review them before deleting anything. Unlike most other apps on this list, however, Remo doesn't automatically select the best photo from each group. The decision is entirely yours. This requires a bit more manual work, but some users will appreciate having control over which photos to keep and which to delete.
Unlike the previous apps in this selection, Remo Duplicate Photos Remover doesn't try to be an all-in-one cleaner. There are no tools for videos, contacts, screenshots, or storage management. Finding and deleting duplicate or similar photos is all the app offers.
Disadvantages:
The application clearly shows its age. Its interface looks quite dated compared to newer cleaners, and the scan can take some time, especially if your photo library is large. During lengthy scans, we also sometimes noticed that The iPhone was getting quite noticeably hot..
Price:
The application has been completely free for years and there are no subscriptions, premium versions, or in-app purchases to consider.
App Store page: Link
You now have enough information to choose an app and start deleting duplicate photos on your iPhone. Choose the one that suits you best and give it a try.
And keep in mind that when one of these apps deletes duplicate photos, the images are moved to the "Recently Deleted" album in the Photos app. From there, you can restore them within the next 30 days if you change your mind. Conversely, if you want to free up space immediately, you can empty the "Recently Deleted" album and permanently delete those photos.
