We all shoot in multiples now. Take a few extra "just in case," pick the best one later — except later never comes, and the whole set stays in your library forever. Multiply that by every event of the last few years, and similar photos become one of the biggest storage drains on your iPhone.
Apple's Duplicates album won't help here: it only detects exact or near-exact copies. Photos that differ by a slight change in angle, expression or timing are treated as completely unique. Finding and deduplicating those sets is exactly what FlickClean's Similar mode does.
Similar photos vs. duplicates — why iOS misses them
The distinction matters because it determines what iOS can and can't clean:
- Duplicates — identical files (same photo saved twice). iOS Duplicates album finds these.
- Similar photos — different photos of the same moment: retakes, bursts, tiny framing changes. iOS sees these as unique and leaves them all in place.
- The problem — similars outnumber true duplicates by 10 to 1 in a typical library.
Delete similar photos with FlickClean (step by step)
- Download FlickClean. Get FlickClean free on the App Store. Similarity analysis runs entirely on your device.
- Open Similar mode. Tap Similar on the home screen. FlickClean scans your library and groups sets of near-identical photos together.
- Keep the best of each set. In each group, keep the sharpest, best-framed shot and swipe left on the rest. One clear winner per moment — that's the whole philosophy.
- Review and confirm. The Confirm Delete screen shows every photo you marked, grouped for a final check. Confirm to delete.
- Empty Recently Deleted. As always, Photos → Albums → Recently Deleted → Delete All reclaims the space immediately.
💡 Pro tip: Can't pick between two shots? Keep both and move on. The win is in deleting the obvious extras from dozens of sets, not agonizing over close calls.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between the iOS Duplicates album and Similar mode?
iOS Duplicates only merges exact or near-exact file copies. FlickClean's Similar mode also groups visually similar photos — retakes, bursts and slight variations — which is where most of the wasted space actually is.
Does FlickClean choose which photo to keep for me?
You stay in control: the group view makes it easy to spot the best shot, you keep it, and swipe the rest. Nothing is auto-deleted.
Do burst photos count as similar photos?
Yes — bursts are the most extreme case, with dozens of near-identical frames. Similar mode is the fastest way to collapse a burst down to its single best frame.