Guides
Each page answers one real question about phone photo storage — what your phone already does, where it stops, and what to do about the rest. Written by the person who builds Slean.
Start with these
What the words mean, and what your phone already does for free before you install anything.
- Duplicate photos and similar photos are not the same problemA duplicate is a second copy of one photo. A similar photo is a different photo that looks close to it. Most phones only find the first kind.
- What the iPhone's Duplicates album finds, and what it quietly skipsThe Photos app has a built-in duplicate finder. It works well, it is free, and it only looks for copies. Here is where it stops and what to do about the rest.
- "Free up space" in Google Photos does not clean anythingFree up space deletes local copies of photos already backed up. Your phone gets emptier, your library does not. Here is what to do instead.
iPhone
Where the Photos app helps, where it stops, and how to clear a full library.
- How to find similar photos on iPhoneThe Photos app has no similar-photo finder — only a Duplicates album, and that's a different thing. Here is what actually helps, and what still needs an app.
- iPhone storage full? Delete these first, in this orderNot everything you could delete returns the same amount of space. Here's the order that actually works, from long videos down to app caches.
- How to find your largest videos and photos on iPhoneThe Photos app can't sort by file size, so your biggest videos and photos stay hidden. What works instead, and how to shrink a file rather than delete it.
- How to delete screenshots on iPhoneScreenshots pile up faster than almost anything else in your library, and they're the safest bulk delete you can make. Here's how to clear hundreds in a few taps.
- How to free up iPhone storage without deleting photosReal options that don't touch your library, where each one runs out, and why removing four near-identical shots of one moment isn't really the loss it feels like.
Android
Files by Google, Google Photos and Samsung's My Files — what each one does, and the gap none of them cover.
- What a photo cleaner app on Android actually doesWhat an Android photo cleaner actually does, what to check before installing one, and what Files by Google and Google Photos already give you free.
- How to delete duplicate photos on AndroidFiles by Google and Samsung's My Files find exact duplicates free. The steps, why WhatsApp causes most of them, and what both tools miss.
- How to find similar photos on AndroidAndroid finds duplicate files but has no tool for near-identical photos. What Google Photos does instead, and how to clear a library full of them.
- Android storage full? Here is what to delete, in orderLong videos first, then messaging-app media, then screenshots, then duplicates, then caches. The order matters more than the effort you put in.
- How to delete screenshots on AndroidScreenshots pile up faster than photos and are safer to bulk-delete. Where they live, why they accumulate, and how to clear them in one pass.
Privacy
What a photo cleaner can see, what it can send, and how to check either yourself.
- Most photo cleaner apps don't upload your photos, but that isn't the whole questionMost cleaners process photos on the device and never upload them. But local processing and data collection are two different things — here's how to tell them apart.
- Photo cleaner apps raise two different safety questions, not one"Safe" usually means two different things: will it leak your photos, and will it delete something you wanted. The answers, and the risks, are not the same.
- How to read the privacy label on a photo cleaner's store listingPrivacy labels are developer-declared, not audited — but they're still the fastest real check on any app. What each term means and what to look for.
- Finding a photo cleaner that doesn't run on ads and trackersThe photo cleaner category is unusually ad-heavy. Here's why, what comes bundled with an ad-supported cleaner, and the checks that find one that isn't.
- How to clean up your photos without uploading them anywhereThe iPhone and Android's own tools already do this locally. For a third-party cleaner, the airplane-mode test is how to check — and it takes thirty seconds.
Storage and compression
Keeping a file instead of deleting it, and what that costs.
- How to compress a video on iPhoneThe Photos app has no compressor. Settings → Camera → Record Video only changes future clips. Here is how to shrink a video you already have.
- How to reduce photo file size on iPhoneA normal iPhone photo is a couple of megabytes. If your library is heavy, it's usually a handful of file types doing it. Here's how to find and shrink them.
- How to compress a video on AndroidAndroid has no single video compressor. Gallery resize, WhatsApp and Google Photos backup each do a different, narrower job. Here is what actually shrinks the file.
- How to free up space on Android without deleting photosReal options that don't touch your library: offload backed-up copies, clear caches, use an SD card, uninstall apps, compress instead of remove. Where each one stops.
Choosing an app
How to judge a photo cleaner before you install it.
- How to choose a photo cleaner, in about five minutesSix checks you can run on a store listing before installing anything, and the two questions that actually separate a good photo cleaner from a bad one.
- How to find the best photo cleaner for your iPhoneThere is no single best one — it depends on what is actually filling your phone. Here is how to work that out first, and what to look for once you know.
- How to find a photo cleaner for Android that is worth installingThe Play Store shelf is noisy and most of it is junk-file scanners with ads. What the free tools already cover, and the four checks that filter the rest.
- A photo cleaner that works on both iPhone and AndroidMost photo cleaners are iPhone-only, or ship a thin Android port. What to look for if you need the same app on both phones in the house.
Making things
The creative side of the app.