Reclean App vs Pixtide: Two Free iPhone Photo Cleaners Compared

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Photo Cleanup, Delete: Reclean by Labi, LLC is a free iPhone photo cleaner with no in-app purchases and no swipe limit, rated 4.91 from 544 US ratings, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-29. Pixtide is also free with nothing to buy. The two apps do different jobs: Reclean finds duplicates and compresses videos, and Pixtide is a one-by-one swipe with Decide Later and whole-session undo.

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

What Reclean is

Reclean is a free, all-in-one photo cleaner for iPhone that started as a duplicate finder and added swiping later. Labi, LLC released it on 2025-06-02 under the name "Photo Cleaner", renamed it Reclean in version 1.0.13 on 2025-08-16, and added a swipe mode in version 1.0.20 on 2026-02-15. The latest version, 1.0.28, arrived on 2026-08-24, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-29.

The app has seven modes: Duplicates, Similar, Swipe, Screenshots, With Text, Large Videos, and All Photos and Videos. It is iPhone only, 16.3 MB and listed in 11 languages. Reclean's marketing page and privacy policy are Notion pages that did not load for us without a browser, so anything the App Store listing does not say is marked not stated here.

Reclean and Pixtide side by side

Both apps are iPhone only and need iOS 18.0 or later. Every Reclean figure comes from its App Store page, checked on 2026-09-29.

Cost: both free, nothing to buy

Reclean and Pixtide are the rare photo cleaners with a price of zero and no in-app purchases listed, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-29. Reclean's developer wrote on Reddit on 2026-08-05 that the app is "100% free" with no paywalls. Reviewers repeat it: 22 of the 50 most recent US reviews praise the missing paywall. One 5-star reviewer on 2026-09-01 called it "the only one that didn't have a pay wall after 3 days".

Ads need a careful sentence. Reclean's App Store Information block carries the line "Contains Advertising", yet six of those 50 reviews say there are no ads and none reports seeing one. The developer says the only promotion is a link to its maker's other apps; we have not verified this in the app. Pixtide shows no ads. For the wider picture, see which photo cleaner apps are free.

Privacy label: Reclean's is lighter

Reclean's App Store privacy label declares fewer data types than Pixtide's. Read on 2026-09-29, it has nothing under Data Used to Track You or Data Linked to You, and lists only usage data and diagnostics as Data Not Linked to You. Its listing adds: "Reclean does not upload or share your photos. Scanning and categorization happen on your iPhone".

Pixtide's label also declares no tracking and nothing linked to you, but it lists four types: anonymous usage data, coarse location derived from the network, a random install identifier and crash data. You can switch the usage statistics off in Settings, and no photo ever leaves the phone. Which analytics tools Reclean uses is not stated. If the shortest label decides it for you, Reclean wins. Our guide to whether photo cleaner apps are safe explains how to read any label.

Two different jobs: finding clutter or deciding on it

Reclean finds clutter for you, and Pixtide helps you decide on every photo yourself. Reclean uses Apple's Vision framework to group duplicates and similar shots, with a similarity level you can adjust, and to pick out screenshots and text-heavy images such as receipts, notes and slides. Since version 1.0.27 on 2026-08-09 it can also show your library on a map so you clean up by place.

Pixtide does none of that detection. It shows one photo at a time, from a month, a year, a category or your recent shots, and you swipe right to keep, left to delete or down to decide later. There is no AI and nothing is pre-selected. For near-identical shots and receipts, Reclean's scans are faster; for years of photos nobody looked at again, a steady swipe is what Pixtide is built for.

Swiping, Decide Later and Undo

Pixtide has three swipe directions and Reclean's swipe mode has two. In Reclean, a right swipe keeps and a left swipe marks a photo for removal; kept items are then hidden from Reclean's other modes, so progress carries over between them. Reclean can sort newest, oldest, largest or smallest first; largest first is a quick way to find heavy files, and Pixtide 1.3.0 has no such order. Pixtide instead builds decks by month, year, category, recent shots or On This Day and remembers where you stopped.

Pixtide adds a swipe down that sends a photo to a Decide Later queue. Hard calls stop blocking the session and wait for you at the end. Pixtide's Undo button under the card reaches back through the whole session. A decide-later queue and undo are not mentioned in Reclean's listing or release notes, so test the app yourself if either matters to you.

Video: compression or playback

Reclean shrinks large videos, and Pixtide plays them so you can decide. Reclean's Large Videos mode, added in version 1.0.14 on 2025-09-05, sorts clips by size and saves a smaller compressed copy, one at a time or in a batch since 1.0.27. A reviewer on 2026-09-09 said the app helped "save literally 90+ gigs of photos and video space" (5 stars).

Pixtide does not compress anything. It plays each video inline with a scrub bar and, after a tap on the speaker button, with sound, so you can hear a clip before you swipe. Whether Reclean plays sound in its swipe cards is not mentioned in the listing. For more on clearing clips, see how to delete large videos on iPhone.

Deletion safety and the 30-day window

Neither Reclean nor Pixtide deletes a photo the moment you swipe. Reclean's listing says you "review your removal list before deleting", and the developer confirms that deletion happens on a separate screen followed by the iOS delete prompt. Pixtide collects your left swipes on a review screen where you can rescue anything before you confirm.

Both apps then delete through Apple's Photos library, so every confirmed deletion moves to the Recently Deleted album and stays there for 30 days before iOS removes it for good, as Apple Support explains. A mistake in either app can be recovered for a month by opening Recently Deleted in Photos and tapping Recover, following Apple's steps for deleted photos. See also recovering photos deleted by an app.

Ratings and momentum

Reclean has far more ratings than Pixtide and is gaining them quickly. It rated 4.91 from 544 US ratings, 4.81 from 517 in Germany and 4.92 from 88 in the UK, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-29. A public tally of App Store data counted 1,837 ratings across 90 countries on 2026-09-21, up from 1,370 on 2026-08-15, about 12 new ratings a day. Its 50 most recent US written reviews, up to 2026-09-23, average 4.98.

AI assistants have noticed. In our tracking run on 2026-09-25, ChatGPT cited Reclean's App Store listing 9 times, for "best app to clean up my iPhone camera roll" and "best free Swipewipe alternative". Pixtide launched on 2026-03-11 and has a handful of ratings so far. The one worry in its reviews is the future: "I just hope they don't start charging" (5 stars, 2026-09-01).

Where Reclean wins

Reclean is the better pick in these cases, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-29:

• Duplicates and similar photos: found automatically, with an adjustable similarity level. Pixtide finds neither.
• Screenshots and text-heavy images: dedicated modes for screenshots, receipts and documents.
• Video compression: saves a smaller copy of large videos, singly or in a batch.
• Sort by size and by place: largest-first order and a location map.
• Privacy label: usage data and diagnostics only, fewer types than Pixtide's.
• Languages: 11 listed, against Pixtide's English listing.
• Ratings: 544 US ratings at 4.91 is a far larger sample than Pixtide's.

One honest limitation

Pixtide does not detect duplicates or similar photos, which is exactly where Reclean is strongest. Apple's Photos app finds exact copies for free in the Duplicates album under Utilities, and Reclean goes further with near-duplicates. Pixtide also shows only the representative photo of a burst, and deleting it removes the representative only, so prune individual burst frames in Photos. Pixtide is iPhone only and needs iOS 18.0 or later, the same as Reclean.

Who should pick which

Pick Reclean if your camera roll is full of duplicates, near-identical shots, screenshots and oversized videos and you want the app to find them for you. Pick Pixtide if you want to go through your library a month at a time, keep moving past the photos you cannot decide on, undo freely and hear a video before you delete it. Both are free, so a Reclean duplicate scan followed by a Pixtide swipe through the months is a sensible pairing. For other free options see Quack vs Pixtide and free swipe photo cleaners with no subscription; for a duplicate-focused paid app, Pixtide vs Clever Cleaner.

Pixtide is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Reclean. 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

What is the Reclean app?

Reclean, listed as Photo Cleanup, Delete: Reclean, is a free iPhone photo cleaner by Labi, LLC. It finds duplicates, similar photos, screenshots and text-heavy images, compresses large videos, and since February 2026 lets you swipe to keep or remove. It rated 4.91 from 544 US ratings, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-29, and needs iOS 18.0 or later.

Is Reclean really free?

Yes. Photo Cleanup, Delete: Reclean shows the price Free with no in-app purchases, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-29, and no swipe or deletion cap is described in its listing or in its reviews. Its listing carries a Contains Advertising line, but reviewers say they see no ads. Pixtide is also free, with no in-app purchases, no ads and no swipe limit.

Reclean vs Pixtide, which photo cleaner should I use?

Both are free iPhone photo cleaners with no in-app purchases, checked on 2026-09-29. Pick Reclean to find duplicates, similar shots and screenshots, or to compress large videos. Pick Pixtide to swipe through your library month by month with a Decide Later swipe, a whole-session Undo button and videos that play with sound. Because both cost nothing, many people can use both.

Is Reclean photo cleaner safe?

Reclean's App Store privacy label, read on 2026-09-29, declares no tracking and no data linked to you, only anonymous usage data and diagnostics. Its listing says it does not upload or share your photos and that scanning happens on the iPhone. Deletions go through Apple's Photos library, so removed photos stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days, the same as with Pixtide.

What are some free apps like Reclean?

Pixtide and Quack: Photo Cleaning App are the closest free options, both swipe cleaners with no ads and no subscription, checked in September 2026. Neither finds duplicates, so for that job use the Duplicates album in Apple's Photos app. Most other cleaners, such as Clever Cleaner and Swipewipe, cap the free tier or sell weekly plans.