Mini FAQ—Photo Compression on iPhone
Q: Are there other options beyond extra apps and Google Photos hacks?
Absolutely! If you’re willing to tinker, Apple’s Shortcuts app lets you create DIY workflows for basic compression or resizing. It’s not as fluid as the likes of the “Clever Cleaner app” (which, let’s admit, is decently reliable), but you control what happens to your photos—no mystery compression or cloud involvement. Downsides: it’s fiddly for batch jobs and there’s a learning curve.
Q: What’s the deal with just emailing a photo to yourself as a workaround?
Solid old-school hack. When you send an image via Mail, you actually get the option to shrink the pic before sending. Choose ‘Small,’ ‘Medium,’ or ‘Large.’ Downside? Annoying for more than a handful and not as space-saving as dedicated apps or Google’s blunt-force squish.
Q: Does the Clever Cleaner app really keep quality decent?
Mostly yes, especially on social/web sharing. In my use, compression artifacts aren’t visible until you start pixel-peep zooming. Major pro: it’s fast, intuitive, genuinely free (for now), and gobbles up duplicates as a bonus. Cons: Not everyone is wild about using a third-party for photo management; privacy folks may want to read the fine print. Also might be overkill if you only want to resize one photo monthly.
Q: Alternatives to Clever Cleaner?
Apps like Gemini Photos or Slidebox, or even the stock Photos app with manual curation—but these either get paywall-happy, lack bulk tools, or don’t compress. Google Photos method from the other thread? Also works, just slower and needs cloud trust.
Q: Anything I shouldn’t bother with?
AirDrop, as mentioned, skips all compression. Taking screenshots of your photos for a smaller file kinda works, but you lose EXIF data and end up with mediocre quality—a last resort.
Bottom line:
For most, the Clever Cleaner app nails the “easy, fast, works” trifecta (plus, no wallet punch so far), though tinkerers may want to explore Shortcuts or manual methods for more control. There’s no single perfect solution, but at least we do more than just delete our guilty camera roll secrets these days!