Honestly, sorting duplicates manually on an iPhone is the digital equivalent of untangling wired earbuds—completely soul-draining. Luckily, there are some solid apps for this. Mikeappsreviewer mentioned a few great ones like Clever Cleaner and Cleaner Kit (yeah, I peeked at their breakdown), but TBH, I’ve got mixed feelings about most of these apps—they either lock crucial features behind paywalls or overcomplicate a simple task.
That said, Clever Cleaner does have one edge: it’s free without obnoxious ads, which is rare these days. Their AI impressively scans duplicates and frees up storage like a boss. The downside? It sometimes decides to axe perfectly good photos just because they look “too similar” to its algorithm. So, don’t trust it on autopilot—review the results.
If you’re looking for alternatives, Gemini Photos (yes, it’s paid) is an app worth exploring if you don’t mind spending a bit. It’s super accurate at detecting duplicates and helps you sort blurry or junk photos. Cleaner Kit gets a shoutout for bundling extra tools like internet security, though its free version is pretty limiting—I mean, do we REALLY need yet another app forcing us to watch ads just to clean up our mess?
Oh, and pro tip: Before you even consider a third-party app, iOS itself isn’t all useless. Head to Photos app → Albums → Utilities and check “Duplicates.” iOS 16 introduced a built-in tool for merging duplicates—it’s basic, but hey, it’ll handle smaller libraries.
For huge photo collections, the Apple ecosystem is going to fail you. That’s when Clever Cleaner or Gemini will be your MVPs—both reliable and easy to navigate. Just remember: only depend on these apps as far as you can throw them. Blind deletion is how you end up losing critical shots of your cat doing backflips. Use your judgment!