It is impossible to overstate the importance of maintaining your iPhone clutter-free and organized. Like any other device, your iPhone needs ample free storage space to operate at peak performance. And, of course, no one has the time to manually go over all of the data stored there to declutter the phone. That’s where the storage cleaner apps come into play. These apps can quickly sift through clutter and remove any unnecessary files to create free storage space for the data that matters.
In this guide, you’ll discover the most popular and highly reviewed iPhone storage cleaner apps in 2024 that will help you declutter and optimize your device.
Factors to Consider When Choosing an iPhone Storage Cleaner
When it comes to choosing the right iPhone storage cleaner, it’s essential to understand that different cleaning tools are designed to perform various tasks. While the ideal app may include all of the following features, most often, apps include a selection of these functionalities.
Here’s a list of what to consider when choosing an iPhone storage cleaner application for your iPhone:
- 📱 Compatibility: It is essential to make sure that the chosen iPhone storage cleaner app is compatible with the iOS version currently installed on your device. Our goal was to select applications that are compatible with a wide range of iOS versions.
- ⚙️ Features: We tried to select apps that include different storage cleaning features so that you’ll be able to select a tool that would meet your specific needs.
- 📸 Real-time Monitoring: This feature allows the user to provide an ongoing insight into your iPhone’s status. With it, you’ll be able to view the memory details in real time.
- 🗑️ Junk File Cleaning (Cache, Temp, etc.): Decluttering your iPhone from junk files is one of the best ways to free up more space on your device without deleting valuable data. Therefore, we included a few applications in our list that have this feature.
- 🔍 Duplicate File Detection (Photos, Contacts, etc.): Scanning for duplicates and removing them from your iPhone can also free up significant space.
- 🧠 Memory Optimization: This feature can improve overall device performance.
- 🔋 Battery Optimization: Some storage cleaning applications also offer a feature that can help optimize battery usage. It is a nice bonus to have, which is why we’ve included some applications that offer this feature also.
- 📈 App Management: Efficiently managing the apps on your iPhone can help to significantly boost your device’s performance. Therefore, for this guide, we’ve also included applications that can uninstall unnecessary apps directly from your phone.
- ✂️ Photo Compression: You can easily preserve storage space on your device by allowing the storage cleaning app to compress the photo library on your iPhone. Many efficient iPhone cleaning apps offer this neat feature.
- 🫧 Scheduled Cleaning: This feature can help to make the storage cleaning process even more hassle-free by automating it.
- 🤷🏼♀️ User-friendliness: One of our goals was to choose intuitive and easy-to-navigate apps since it lets the users to have the smoothest possible experience.
- 💰 Price: It’s very rare for a storage cleaning application to be completely free. Most of them usually have a subscription plan or a one-time payment option. We tried to include apps that have a range of pricing options to cater to various budgets.
In the ranking below, we’ve tried to look back not only at the popularity of the specific apps. We also took into consideration other factors such as app performance, personal experience, and user reviews to make sure that the selected tools are the most effective ones on the market.
8 Best Cleaning Apps for iPhone
Here are the top 8 most efficient and highly reviewed iPhone storage cleaner apps in 2024.
Name | App Store Rank | Ratings | Our Rank | Price |
Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner | 4.7 | 196.1K | 4.9 | $3.99/week |
Smart Cleaner: Clean Storage | 4.4 | 181.1K | 4.4 | $5.99/week |
Phone Cleaner: Clean Storage | 4.6 | 88.5K | 4.5 | $3.99/week |
Boost Cleaner – Clean Up Smart | 4.5 | 60.4K | 4.8 | $4.99/week |
Easy Cleaner | 4.8 | 25K | 4.7 | free |
Gemini Photos: Gallery Cleaner | 4.6 | 18.8K | 4.8 | $4.99/week |
Slidebox – Photo Manager | 4.8 | 9.5K | 4.8 | $4.99/month |
Simple Cleaner – Clean Storage | 4.4 | 9.1K | 4.3 | $3.99/week |
*these iPhone and iPad cleaning apps’ rankings are relevant at the time of writing.
1. Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner
Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner is an iPhone app with almost 200K user ratings on the App Store. It focuses mainly on cleaning up the photos and videos in an iPhone’s gallery. The application can easily detect and remove duplicates in the gallery, merge duplicate contacts, and clean your mailbox. Moreover, it comes with a few fun extra features that allow you to create custom widgets for your iPhone and set charging animations that will make your device lock screen stand out.
Notable features:
- Duplicate File Detection (photo, video, contacts)
- Mailbox Cleaner
- File Sorting
Pros:
- Clean and user-friendly design
- Offers a free trial
- Comes with a few fun additional features
Cons:
- Limited features for actually clearing an iPhone storage
- The price is a bit high when taking into consideration the available features
Personal Experience: Cleanup has a neat and straightforward user interface, making the tool accessible to users of all tech levels. It quickly identified the duplicate files on the iPhone and, therefore, succeeded in clearing some space on the device.
App Store User Opinion: Most of the users’ reviews claim that CleanUp is a valuable tool for decluttering their iPhone storage and organizing the gallery. However, some claim that the subscription model is a bit expensive. Also, some users have pointed out that the app needs some improvements in accuracy when scanning for duplicates.
System Requirements: iOS 12.0 or later
Price:
- Free 3-day trial
- Weekly subscription ($3.99)
- Lifetime subscription ($39.99)
2. Boost Cleaner – Clean Up Smart
Boost Cleaner – Clean Up Smart comes next in terms of popularity. This iPhone storage cleaner app offers a basic bundle of features to tidy up your device: you’ll be able to find and delete duplicates, merge contacts, and perform a storage cleanup. Aside from the main functionality, this tool also comes with a secret album to store private photos and a private browser.
Notable features:
- Duplicate Photo Detection
- Contact Cleaner
- General Storage Cleaner
Pros:
- Free trial that allows to test all features
- General storage cleaning
- Extra useful features not related to storage cleaning
Cons:
- Only a subscription-based payment model
Personal Experience: The app was easy to use and locate the needed features. The duplicate scanning results weren’t as impressive since not all of them were located. But overall, Boost Cleaner did a good job in clearing out some storage space on the iPhone.
App Store User Opinion: It was difficult to locate many positive user reviews. Many users claim to have experienced technical issues and expressed concerns about subscription management. But in general, the app users are satisfied with the performance.
System Requirements: iOS 12.0 or later
Price:
- Free 3-day trial
- Weekly subscription ($4.99)
- Monthly subscription ($9.99)
- Annual subscription ($29.99)
3. Gemini Photos: Gallery Cleaner
Gemini Photos: Gallery Cleaner is a gallery management tool that helps iPhone users to manage their photos and videos. This tool will scan the library and remove duplicates, old screenshots, photos of text, blurry pictures, etc. Moreover, the app monitors your new files to make sure that the photos and videos don’t pile up again and cause your iPhone to run out of space.
Notable features:
- Photo Duplicate Detector
- Gallery Clutter Removal
- Library Organizer
- Photo Radar
Pros:
- Modern design
- Easy to navigate
- Good value
Cons:
- Cleaning features limited to iPhone’s gallery
Personal Experience: After our testing, we can say without doubt that Gemini is a good tool for decluttering photos on your iPhone. It quickly scanned our library with almost 20K photos and efficiently removed all of the clutter.
App Store User Opinion: Gemini is a highly spoken-of tool for decluttering photos on iPhone. Users find it easy to manage the Library on their phones with this tool and love its efficiency. However, some were disappointed with the one-time purchase cost.
System Requirements: iOS 13.0 or later
Price:
- Free 3-day trial
- Monthly subscription ($4.99)
- Annual subscription ($19.99)
- Lifetime subscription ($34.99)
4. Easy Cleaner
If you’re looking for a free iPhone cleaning application, Easy Cleaner would be a great choice. It mainly targets the organization and clean-up of your contacts, including scanning for duplicates and merging them. That aside, this free app can also detect when your contacts have missing information, such as email addresses, names, and more. Admittedly, you won’t be freeing up lots of space on your iPhone, but you’ll be able to keep your list of contacts tidy and clean.
Notable features:
- Detect Duplicate Contacts
- Manage Duplicate Contacts
Pros:
- Entirely free
- Quick scanning
- Simple design
Cons:
- Cleaning features limited to contacts
Personal Experience: This tool was easy to use and was capable of successfully detecting and removing duplicate contacts. We were able to mass delete unwanted contacts with just one tap.
App Store User Opinion: The Easy Cleaner app has high ratings due to its straightforwardness and robust capabilities. Most users are satisfied with the contact duplicate detection and removal results. However, some users have experienced issues with the deleting of the Notes section when merging duplicate contacts.
System Requirements: iOS 12.0 or later
Price: free
5. Slidebox – Photo Manager
Slidebox is an iPhone photo manager application that is capable of organizing the whole Photos app on your device. It can help you sort your photos into different albums and delete the ones you no longer need. However, this tool doesn’t offer a duplicate scan feature, so you won’t be able to spot the duplicate photos unless you do it manually.
Notable features:
- Organize Photos into Albums
- Undo Feature
Pros:
- Undo option for the last action
- Good for organizing photos into albums
- Gif support
Cons:
- Limited to photo managing
- Not able to detect duplicate photos
Personal Experience: If you only need to tidy up the Photos app on your iPhone, Slidebox is a good option. We liked how you can easily delete unwanted photos from the application and the organizational capabilities of the tool. Also, it’s nice that you can quickly undo an action if you change your mind about deleting a photo.
App Store User Opinion: Overall, users find Slidebox simple yet brilliant for photo organization on iPhones. They pointed out how easy it was to navigate the tool, and most of the users were happy with the results. Some suggested that to make this app better, it’s a good idea to add a video sorting feature.
System Requirements: iOS 11.0 or later
Price:
- Free trial version
- Monthly subscription ($4.99)
- Annual subscription ($49.99)
6. Phone Cleaner: Clean Storage+
Phone Cleaner: Clean Storage is an iPhone-specialized application whose main feature is cleaning duplicate photos and videos. Aside from that, this tool can also detect and remove useless videos. If you have an issue with tidying up the contact list on your device, this app can help you with that task by scanning for duplicate and incomplete contacts and removing them.
Notable features:
- Duplicate File Detection (photos and videos)
- Contacts Merge Feature
- Contacts Backup
- Widget Tool
Pros:
- Offers both storage cleaning features and extra ones
- Has a one-time payment option available
Cons:
- Quite costly
Personal Experience: The tool did a quick job of locating the duplicate photos on the iPhone, however, the results showed that around 94% of duplicates were discovered. Overall, Phone Cleaner efficiently performed its main functions.
App Store User Opinion: Most of the users claim that they had no difficulties navigating the Phone cleaner app and were able to easily remove duplicate photos. However, a few had some challenges when dealing with a large photo library.
System Requirements: iOS 12.0 or later
Price:
- Free 3-day trial
- Weekly subscription ($3.99)
- Annual subscription ($39.99)
- Lifetime purchase ($59.99)
7. Smart Cleaner: Clean Storage
Smart Cleaner: Clean Storage is another noteworthy iPhone storage cleaner application. It is almost as popular as the tool described above, and it offers a bit more functionality. Aside from the usual storage cleaning features, this application can also back up your iPhone, test your Internet speed, and hide photos or videos on your device.
Notable features:
- Duplicate File Detection (photos and videos)
- Contact Organizer
- Battery Optimization
- Real-time Monitoring
Pros:
- Offers a bundle of features
- Can compress videos
- Provides real-time data about your storage
Cons:
- Is on the higher subscription price point
Personal Experience: This app offers a simple navigation system that allows you to easily switch from one feature to another. Smart Cleaner performed excellent in our test on detecting duplicate files and merging contacts.
App Store User Opinion: The Smart Cleaner application has received mixed reviews from users. Some are saying that this tool has been highly effective in cleaning up duplicate files on an iPhone and are happy with its usability and features. At the same time, others claim that the tool hasn’t always given exceptional results in detecting specific types of photos and have experienced some glitches.
System Requirements: iOS 14.0 or later
Price:
- Free 3-day trial
- Weekly subscription: $5.99
- Lifetime subscription: $34.99
8. Simple Cleaner – Clean Storage
Simple Cleaner is an iPhone utility app that can help you organize your Photos by discovering and removing unneeded screenshots, similar photos and videos, and duplicate photos. Moreover, the tool also offers an option to delete photos of unfamiliar people from your iPhone. Aside from photo and video management, this app can also locate duplicate contacts and erase them from your device.
Notable features:
- Screenshot Detector
- Duplicate Photos Detector
- Scanner for Similar Photos and Videos
- AI Cleanup
- Widgets Creator
Pros:
- Offers both Photo cleaning features and extra ones
- Free version with ads
- Good Library scanning speed
Cons:
- No one-time payment option available
Personal Experience: The tool did an excellent job in managing our large photo library. However, it would be better if the app had a preview before the deletion of the photos.
App Store User Opinion: Users have mixed feelings about the Simple Cleaner application. Some claim the app to be incredibly useful and are happy with how the app cleaned out unneeded photos and freed up space on their iPhones. However, some have noted that the tool didn’t properly find the duplicates.
System Requirements: iOS 12.0 or later
Price:
- Free version with ads
- Weekly subscription ($3.99)
- Annual subscription ($39.99)
Do iPhone Cleaning Apps Really Work?
Indeed, iPhone cleaning apps can help free up your storage space and organize your device. They can identify and remove storage junk, including duplicates, rarely used apps, and incomplete contacts. However, they also come with several limitations, including:
- Limited access to deeper files: iOS disallows most apps, including cleaner apps, to access your phone’s system files. They’re only capable of cleaning what the operating system allows or those within their sandboxes. This may leave behind hidden junk files or unused data.
- Manual cleaning: To save battery and ensure smooth operation, your iPhone limits background processes. This restricts any cleaner app you download from always running in the background and regularly cleaning up your storage. You might need to do the cleanup process by manually accessing the app.
- App effectiveness: Not all apps are created equal. Some are more reliable and effective than others. It’s essential that you read reviews and research before downloading your preferred cleaner app.
FAQ
There are a few effective iPhone storage cleaner applications on the App Store. But it’s almost impossible to tell which one is the best one since every iPhone user searching for an app like that has different needs. One of the best cleaner app for an iPhone that is also free is Easy Cleaner.
The best app for cleaning an iPhone varies depending on individual user preferences. When trying to find a suitable cleaner app, take a look at these highly-rated tools: Simple Cleaner, Smart Cleaner, Gemini Photos, Slidebox, etc.
After testing the most popular iPhone storage cleaning applications, we can recommend Gemini Photos, Phone Cleaner, and Boost Cleaner as one of the most effective tools designed for making more free space on your device.
It’s difficult to name an all-in-one application for clearing storage on an iPhone since the apps available on the market come with a different selection of features. Cleanup app is one of those apps that includes more features compared to the other ones since it allows you to clean up photos, videos, contacts, and even emails.
Smart Cleaner is an iPhone utility application that helps users to tidy up their devices by detecting and removing duplicate files. Aside from the cleaning features, this tool also offers extra features like battery optimization and file backups.
Yes, the Quick Cleaner app is safe to use. However, it’s best not to rush through the cleaning process with this tool so as not to mistakenly erase the wrong data from your iPhone.
In general, phone cleaner applications are safe for iPhones as long as the chosen tool is reputable.
Basically, a storage space cleaner first runs a scan to detect duplicate files (photos, videos, contacts). Then, it offers you to go through those files to remove the unnecessary ones. Other processes depend on what the chosen storage space cleaner has to offer.
You can improve your iPhone’s performance with the help of an iOS cleaner by removing junk files, duplicate photos and videos, managing data, etc. All this will free up some space on your iPhone and therefore boost its performance.
You can manually clean your iPhone’s storage using your Mac with the help of iTunes. However, this process will take lots of your time and effort. For a better solution, try using a free iPhone cleaner app either directly from your device (you can use tools like Quick Cleaner, Smart Cleaner, Easy Cleaner, Gemini Photos, etc.) or from your Mac (you can use an app like Gemini 2).
Conclusion
Keeping your iPhone organized and free of any unnecessary files is essential for top-notch performance. With an iPhone storage cleaner app tailored to your specific needs, you can be sure that the process of tidying up your device will be as hassle-free and as quick as possible.
Make sure you take into consideration the features offered by the apps in our guide and ponder over what actually you want that tool to be able to do. Once you know what you need, you’ll be able to select the best cleaning app for your iPhone.
This article was written by Romana Levko, a Staff Writer at Handy Recovery. It was recently updated by Emma Collins.
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