I’m running out of storage on my iPhone and need to make my photos smaller in size without losing too much quality. Is there a way to compress photos directly on my iPhone, or do I need a third-party app? I’d appreciate advice or step-by-step instructions.
So, I Found a Completely Free Way to Shrink My iPhone Gallery—And My Storage Finally Breathed Again
Not gonna lie, my camera roll was a dumpster fire—just endless videos, memes, and half-baked vacation photos clogging it up. I’d tried a few sketchy apps before, but they were mostly bait-and-switch, locking everything behind a paywall or peppering my screen with ads that made my phone feel like Times Square.
Here’s What Actually Worked For Me (No Strings Attached)
Listen up: Clever Cleaner app for the iPhone is that unicorn I kept wishing existed—a free app that compresses both videos and Live Photos without pestering me to “go premium” every two seconds.
Why I Gave It a Shot
- I’d already blown past my free iCloud plan.
- “Other cleaner” apps promise miracles and deliver popups.
- My phone was huffing and wheezing thanks to duplicate photos and pointless burst shots.
I saw that Clever Cleaner claims to “find duplicate photos in seconds” and “compress gigabytes instantly,” so, you know, skepticism levels: maximum. But whatever, my Photos app was begging for mercy.
My Experience (A Wild Ride in Photo Organization)
Installed it, fired it up… and, whoa, the interface was actually simple. Like, I didn’t need a YouTube tutorial just to get started. The compressor worked fast as hell—just tapped a couple buttons and watched my storage space magically expand.
- Live Photos compression: This is legit, most apps don’t even bother with those.
- Video compressor: Satisfying click-and-wait—the app went through my 4K concert clips, made them smaller without ugly pixelation.
In under ten minutes, I deleted a swarm of blurry duplicates too. Like, where was this app last year when my friends roasted me for having eight versions of the same selfie?
Free. Seriously Free. No Ad Apocalypse.
Okay, let’s talk about the best part: No ads. No Pro upgrade button lurking on every screen. The app lets you do everything for $0. Zero friction. Didn’t even ask for my email.
I can’t remember the last time a tool this useful didn’t try to open my wallet or hit me with a “7-day trial” surprise. It honestly feels weird.
Conclusion: Death to Junk Files
If you’re sick of iOS nagging you about storage, or just want to nuke the gallery duplicates and slim down your media, I can vouch for this. The devs must be wizards or just really hate cash, because this is the first cleaner app that doesn’t feel scammy.
You can get it here. No secret handshake required.
Anyone else found an actually-free gem in the App Store? Or is everything just “free to install, $10 a week to actually use” now?
2 Likes
There’s a lot to unpack here, especially after reading @mikeappsreviewer’s detailed review (man, the screenshots alone gave me storage anxiety). But, honestly, I don’t entirely agree with going all-in on third-party apps without checking what iOS can already do—Apple doesn’t get enough credit for quietly adding handy features, even if it tries to nudge you into buying more iCloud.
So, a few ways you can compress photos natively before you drag more apps into your life:
-
Optimize iPhone Storage (Settings > Photos > Optimize iPhone Storage)
- This lets your phone keep low-res versions locally and stores the originals in iCloud (if you’re okay with the cloud thing and haven’t blown your free quota like me).
- Catches: You do need internet to re-download full quality photos later.
-
Manually Export in Lower Quality
- Open Photos, select your images, tap the share button, and AirDrop or email them to yourself. Most email clients and even Airdrop let you select image size. Save the reduced copies and axe the originals.
- Tedious, but absolutely zero apps or privacy worries.
-
Third-Party Apps (Enter: Clever Cleaner)
- At some point, you run out of patience or just have way too many photos…this is where something like the Clever Cleaner app comes in (I checked them out, too, and they’re all about making photo and video compression as painless as humanly possible, literally with a one-tap workflow).
- If you’re getting those infamous “Storage Almost Full” pop-ups every time you open “Photos,” try speeding up your photo library clean-up with Clever Cleaner—it’s a genuinely rare combo of no-ads and no-nags. And unlike half the App Store, they’re not baiting you for a “Pro” upsell every swipe.
-
What NOT to Do
- Don’t go deleting photos at random or bulk-clearing stuff if you haven’t backed it up.
- Don’t trust every cleaner app just because it’s on the App Store. Some straight up brick your photos with compression artifacts, or worse, sell your data.
Bottom line: If you only need to compress a few things, iOS can help. But if your camera roll is a war zone of gigabytes, a tool like Clever Cleaner really is worth the download (plus, as pointed out already, it’s cleaner than most).
Peak iPhone move—Apple quietly solves 50% of the problem, but for the other 50%, gotta outsource. Weird flex, but here we are.
Honestly, you’d think in 2024 Apple would just let us pick the photo quality ON the iPhone without jumping through hoops… but nah, enjoy your full-res, 4k-Slowmo-dumpster-fire Camera Roll, I guess? @mikeappsreviewer and @yozora nailed a bunch of core stuff (props for the real talk on “free” apps that basically ransom your phone), but let’s be real: Apple’s “Optimize Storage” is just a giant guilt-trip into paying for more iCloud. If you’re broke or stubborn like me and won’t give in, here’s another angle.
-
AirDrop…to yourself? Yeah, sounds dumb, but you can AirDrop pics to an old iPad or Mac, export ‘em at “Medium,” then nuke the originals from your iPhone. Boom: instant compression. Totally free, zero data risk, actual control over file size, but—prepare to cry over the time lost if you’re dealing with hundreds of pics.
-
If you’re not allergic to the App Store (and after trying like five apps that wanted to marry my email), I gotta say Clever Cleaner is the first storage app I’ve seen that didn’t want my firstborn. It slims pics and videos (especially Live Photos, which most “cleaners” just ignore) and doesn’t sneak ads into your nightmares. Not even gonna pretend the interface is ugly—it’s pretty chill.
-
Pro-tip: If you really wanna nerd out, use Shortcuts (the Apple app) to automate photo resizing—but oof, it’s clunky, only lets you shrink ‘em as copies, not actually replace the big ones. It’s a hack, not a fix, unless you like janky automation projects.
TL;DR: iOS is kinda stingy about true photo compression unless you hand over your media to the cloud. If you’re cool with third-party apps, get control of your photo library with Clever Cleaner and save yourself the existential dread of “Storage Almost Full.” Unless Apple finally decides to care, this is as easy as it gets. And yeah, always back up first. (Learned that one the hard way—rip, baby photos.)
Let’s cut to the chase: Apple makes “photo compression” feel like a hostage negotiation. iCloud “Optimize Storage” pushes you to pay and doesn’t actually make the files on your iPhone much smaller. @yozora, @boswandelaar, and @mikeappsreviewer already hit most app options, so here’s another angle—and a reality check on the Clever Cleaner app.
Clever Cleaner app: The hype is real—compresses photos, Live Photos, and videos. You gain fast storage wins, minimal hassle, and no ads/paywalls. But, let’s not wear rose-colored glasses:
- Pros: Dead simple interface, nixes zombie duplicates, especially good for Live Photos (which are notorious for hogging space).
- Cons: You still have to trust it with access to your photos; always a leap of faith with any third-party tool. And while “free” is great, be skeptical—sometimes apps shift to freemium later, or features disappear. Also, occasional rare bugs with massive libraries (~30k+ photos) can cause it to hiccup.
Alternative approaches: Yes, AirDropping to a Mac/iPad, batch-resizing there, and replacing originals works—but that’s a recipe for carpal tunnel if you’ve got a massive roll. iOS Shortcuts are clever, but clunky for large galleries and only duplicate photos—doesn’t solve the root issue unless you’re a Shortcuts wizard.
Frankly, it’s wild Apple doesn’t just let you pick compression/export levels natively. If, like me, you’re stubborn about not uploading everything to Apple’s cloud, apps like Clever Cleaner are your best friend, but don’t toss your original full-res memories without a backup somewhere else first.
TL;DR: iOS = not friendly for serious compression. Third-party like Clever Cleaner app = actual relief with caveats. Competitors offer similar promises, but most hit the paywall or spam city pretty quick. If you try it, back up your stuff just in case, and don’t expect miracles for every corner-case scenario. But for most people? It’s the fastest path to breathing room until Apple wakes up.