Quack Photo Cleaning App vs Pixtide: Two Free Swipe Cleaners

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Quack: Photo Cleaning App and Pixtide are free iPhone photo cleaners with the same swipe gesture, no ads, no subscription and no swipe limit, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25. Quack, by Karol Samujlo, rates 4.99 from 67 US ratings and was last updated on 2026-05-23. Pixtide was updated in September 2026 and adds a Decide Later swipe and video playback; Quack has the stronger privacy label.

This page is written by the Pixtide team (we make Pixtide). We name where the other app wins.

Quack is a good free choice

Quack is one of only two iPhone photo cleaners we found with no cap, no ads and no paid tier, and Pixtide is the other. Our survey of 13 cleaners, which photo cleaner apps are free, found every other app caps the free tier, shows ads or sells a weekly plan. This is a comparison of two apps built on the same idea by two independent developers.

Quack's developer launched it with an r/apple post on 2026-05-10 titled "Photo cleaner apps charging $10/week is absurd, so I built a free one", which drew 1,071 upvotes and 233 comments. Reviewers agree with the pitch. "Finally a truly free photo cleaner app," wrote one 5-star US reviewer on 2026-05-11. A 5-star UK reviewer on 2026-06-24 called it one that "genuinely is the most honestly advertised app compared to others". All 10 of Quack's written reviews are 5 stars.

Quack and Pixtide side by side

Both apps are iPhone only and need iOS 18.0 or later. Every figure for Quack comes from its App Store page, checked on 2026-09-25.

Cost: both free, Quack takes tips

Quack and Pixtide cost nothing and lock nothing, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25. Quack's listing says every feature works "without paying a cent, no paywalls, no upsells", and its only in-app purchases are three tips: $0.99, $4.99 and $9.99. A tip changes nothing in the app; it is a thank-you to a solo developer.

Pixtide has no tip jar and no in-app purchases of any kind, so there is nothing to tap by mistake and nothing to decide. If you like the idea of supporting an independent developer directly, Quack gives you a way to do it and Pixtide currently does not. For how these two compare with the paid apps in the category, see Tinder for photos apps compared.

Privacy label: Quack is stronger

Quack's App Store privacy label reads Data Not Collected, checked on 2026-09-25, and that is a stronger label than Pixtide's. Quack's privacy page says the app has no analytics, no tracking and no ads, and that its only network use is StoreKit for tips. Its listing puts it simply: "Your photos never leave your device, the application doesn't use the internet."

Pixtide also sorts and deletes entirely on the phone, needs no account and never uploads a photo. The difference is analytics: Pixtide sends anonymous usage statistics, such as how many photos were reviewed, so its label reads Data Not Linked to You rather than Data Not Collected. You can switch the statistics off in Settings, under Data and Privacy. If a label that says no data is collected at all is your deciding factor, Quack wins this one, and we would rather say so than blur it.

Sorting speed and the Decide Later swipe

Pixtide has three swipe directions and Quack has two, which is the biggest difference in how a session feels. Quack's listing describes its flow as "Swipe right to keep the photo, swipe left to toss it. That's the whole thing." That simplicity is fast when every photo is an easy call.

The trouble is the photo you cannot decide on: the blurry shot of a good day, the fifth of six near-identical sunsets. In a two-way app you either guess or stall. Pixtide adds a swipe down that moves the photo to a Decide Later queue, so the session keeps moving and you return to the hard ones at the end. A user in Quack's launch thread asked for exactly this kind of "skip option", and Quack's listing does not describe one.

Two smaller points from the same thread: commenters said Quack's cards crop landscape photos, with one saying it "really kills the flow", and the workaround is a tap for the full photo.

Video: Pixtide plays it

Pixtide plays videos inline with sound and a scrub bar, so you can check a clip before you keep or delete it. That matters because videos are usually where the storage goes: one long clip can outweigh hundreds of photos. Sound is off by default and turns on with the speaker button on the card.

Quack's App Store listing, release notes and privacy page do not mention video, and a 5-star reviewer on 2026-05-11 asked for video support. We have not confirmed whether video cards appear in Quack today, so the fair statement is that its listing does not mention video. If most of your clutter is photos and screenshots, this may not matter to you. If you are clearing old screen recordings and long clips, test Quack with a few videos first.

Choosing which photos to sort

Pixtide sorts your library month by month, and Quack filters it by date range. In Pixtide you open a month or a whole year, sort it, and the app remembers your progress, so you can stop halfway through March and resume later. Categories cover screenshots, videos, selfies, Live Photos, panoramas, favourites and bursts, and there are Recent and On This Day decks.

Quack works differently and has its own strengths. Since version 1.3 on 2026-05-23 you can filter by the last few months or a custom date range, limit the deck to an album or to screenshots, and order photos newest first, oldest first, largest first or at random. Largest first is a quick way to find heavy files, and Pixtide 1.3.0 has no largest-first order. Quack also remembers photos you kept and does not show them again. Months suit a steady routine; filters suit a targeted sweep.

Deletion safety and the 30-day window

Neither Quack nor Pixtide deletes a photo on the swipe itself. Both collect your left swipes and show them on a review screen, where you can rescue anything you swiped too fast before confirming. Both then delete through Apple's Photos library, so every confirmed delete goes to the Recently Deleted album and stays there for 30 days before iOS removes it for good, as Apple Support explains.

That means a mistake in either app is recoverable for a month: open Photos, go to Recently Deleted and tap Recover, following Apple's steps for deleted photos. Both apps also have an undo button while you sort. Pixtide's undo reaches back through the whole session; Quack's listing does not say how far its undo goes. On safety, the two apps are close to equal, and both leave every decision to you.

Updates

Pixtide shipped version 1.3.0 on 2026-09-17, and Quack's most recent version, 1.3, was released on 2026-05-23, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25. Quack had three releases in its first month and none in the four months since. A small app that works does not need constant updates, but the requests from its launch thread, such as uncropped landscape photos, a skip option and video, have not arrived in a release yet.

Pixtide launched on 2026-03-11, about seven weeks before Quack, and has been updated through 2026. Quack's rating count is much larger, 67 US ratings against Pixtide's 4, largely thanks to its popular Reddit launch, so more people have told the App Store what they think of it.

Where Quack wins

Quack is the better pick in several concrete cases, all checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25:

• Privacy label: Data Not Collected, against Pixtide's Data Not Linked to You.
• No notifications: Quack sends none. Pixtide's smart reminders are optional and capped at one a day, but they exist.
• Languages: Quack's listing covers 6 languages, although the developer says 5 of them were AI-translated. Pixtide's listing is English.
• Targeted sorting: largest-first and random order, plus album filters.
• Ratings: 4.99 from 67 US ratings is a much larger sample than Pixtide's.
• Supporting the developer: optional tips from $0.99.

One honest limitation

Pixtide does not detect duplicates. Neither does Quack, whose developer points people to Apple's Photos app for that, and it is the right advice: the Duplicates album in Photos finds exact copies for free. Pixtide also shows only the representative photo of a burst, and deleting it removes the representative only, so prune individual burst frames in the Photos app. Pixtide is iPhone only and needs iOS 18.0 or later, the same as Quack.

Who should pick which

Pick Quack if you want a two-way swipe with nothing else on the screen, a Data Not Collected privacy label, zero notifications, or one of its six languages. Pick Pixtide if you often hit photos you cannot decide on, if videos are a big part of your library, or if you prefer to work through your library a month at a time and pick up where you left off. Both are free, so you can try both. For other free apps, see free swipe photo cleaners with no subscription and the Swipe Delete alternative.

Pixtide at a glance

• Free: no subscription, no in-app purchases, no premium tier.
• No ads.
• No AI: you decide every photo.
• Works entirely on your phone: no account, no photo ever uploaded.
• Swiping only marks a photo; you review everything before confirming, and deleted photos stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days.
• Photos and videos, sorted by month, year, category or recent shots.
• iPhone with iOS 18.0 or later.

Pixtide is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Quack. All product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. This comparison reflects publicly available information as of September 2026; pricing and features change, so please check each app's App Store listing for the latest details.

Frequently asked questions

Quack photo cleaning app vs Pixtide, which one should I use?

Both are free iPhone swipe cleaners with no ads and no subscription, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25. Pick Quack: Photo Cleaning App if you want a Data Not Collected privacy label and no notifications at all. Pick Pixtide if you want a Decide Later swipe, videos that play with sound and a scrub bar, and month by month sessions. Pixtide was updated in September 2026; Quack was last updated on 2026-05-23.

Is Quack photo cleaning app really free?

Yes. Quack: Photo Cleaning App by Karol Samujlo has no ads, no subscription, no swipe limit and no locked features, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25. Its only in-app purchases are optional tips of $0.99, $4.99 and $9.99 that unlock nothing. Pixtide is also free with no ads and no swipe limit, and it has no in-app purchases or tip jar at all.

Is Quack photo cleaning app safe and private?

Quack's App Store privacy label, checked on 2026-09-25, reads Data Not Collected, and its privacy page says the only network use is StoreKit for tips. Like every iPhone photo cleaner, Quack deletes through Apple's Photos library, so deleted photos wait in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Pixtide also works on the phone and never uploads a photo, but it sends anonymous usage statistics that can be switched off in Settings.

What are some apps like Quack photo cleaning app?

Pixtide is the closest match: a free iPhone swipe cleaner with no ads, no subscription and no swipe limit, plus a Decide Later swipe and video playback. ChatGPT also names Clever Cleaner, Swipewipe, CleanMyPhone and Slidebox, which all sell paid plans; Clever Cleaner's weekly plan was $6.99 and CleanMyPhone's yearly plan $36.99, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25.