Gemini Photos Review: The Easy Way to Delete Duplicate Photos on Your iPhone
Does this sound familiar? You snap multiple pics of the same subject, just to make sure you get the perfect shot. Or you screenshot a funny meme to share with friends. Before you know it, your iPhone camera roll is overflowing with duplicate photos, blurry shots, and random pictures of notes or documents.
Finding and deleting all those unneeded, space-hogging images can be a real chore. That‘s where Gemini Photos comes in. Developed by MacPaw, the same company behind CleanMyMac, this smart iOS app scans your photo library to detect duplicates, similar shots, blurry pics, and more. With a few taps, you can quickly review and bulk delete the photos you don‘t need, freeing up valuable storage space.
But is Gemini Photos worth paying for when you can manually clean up your camera roll for free? How well does it actually work at finding duplicates? In this in-depth review, I‘ll share my experience using Gemini Photos on my iPhone and help you decide if this duplicate photo finder is right for you.
Table of Contents
What is Gemini Photos?
How to Use Gemini Photos to Delete Duplicate iPhone Photos
Gemini Photos Pros & Cons
Is Gemini Photos Worth It?
Gemini Photos Pricing & Compatibility
How to Cancel Gemini Photos Subscription
Final Verdict on Gemini Photos
What is Gemini Photos?
Gemini Photos is a duplicate photo finder app for iPhone and iPad. It scans your iOS device‘s camera roll and uses algorithms to identify unneeded images in four main categories:
- Duplicates: Exact copies of the same photo
- Similar: Photos that look very much alike, like burst shots or pics from different angles
- Blurred: Out-of-focus, blurry pics that didn‘t come out right
- Screenshots: Screengrabs and screenshots mixed in with your photos
- Notes: Pictures of notes, docs, whiteboards, receipts etc.
Once the scanning is done, Gemini Photos groups the images it finds by category. You can then quickly review the possible duplicates side-by-side and bulk delete the ones you don‘t want to keep. The app even suggests which photos to get rid of, selecting the best shot in a series of similar pics.
By clearing out those redundant files, you can often recover gigabytes of space on your iPhone or iPad without losing any important memories. Gemini Photos aims to make this tedious process quick, easy and even kind of fun.
How to Find & Delete Duplicate Photos on iPhone with Gemini Photos
Using Gemini Photos to clean up your iOS photo library is pretty straightforward. Here‘s a quick step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Download and Open Gemini Photos
Install the free Gemini Photos app from the App Store. Launch the app and grant it access to your photo library when prompted.
Step 2: Scan Your Photo Library
Tap the big "Start Scanning" button. Gemini Photos will begin analyzing every image in your camera roll, looking for duplicates and the other categories listed earlier. You can see the scan progress at the bottom of the screen.
On my iPhone 12 mini with around 7,500 photos, the scan took about 3 minutes. The app found a whopping 2,300 "unneeded" images – yikes! Apparently I‘m a serial screenshotter and need to get better at deleting fuzzy photos right away.
Step 3: Review Duplicate & Similar Photos
Once the scan is complete, you‘ll see the total space you can save by deleting files, along with a breakdown by category. Tap on one of the groups, like "Similar", to start reviewing.
Gemini Photos automatically pre-selects suggested images for deletion, with a list view on the right and a larger preview on the left. Swipe up and down to see all the files in a group. If you disagree with any selections, tap the circle to unmark that photo and keep it.
You can also tap "Auto Remove" to immediately delete every pre-selected pic in that category. I recommend reviewing at least the Similar and Duplicate sections carefully, as the app sometimes gets it wrong.
Step 4: Delete Duplicates You Don‘t Need
When you‘re done reviewing, tap "Move to Trash" at the bottom to delete all the selected duplicates or unneeded photos in that category. Repeat the process for Screenshots, Notes, and Blurred. Deleted pics will move to your Recently Deleted album, where they‘ll be permanently erased after 30 days.
Step 5: Repeat Scanning Regularly
After the first big purge, make a habit of running Gemini Photos every few weeks to keep your camera roll neat and tidy. The developers recommend scanning at least once a month. You can even toggle on automatic scans in the app Settings.
Gemini Photos Pros & Cons
So how does Gemini Photos perform in the real world? Here‘s a rundown of what I liked and didn‘t like after testing the app on my own iPhone.
Pros:
- Quickly scans even large photo libraries
- Finds not just duplicates, but similar pics, blurry shots & screenshots too
- Easy to compare and bulk delete straight from the app
- Frees up significant storage space
- Nice UI and fun to use
- Safer than deleting permanently – trashed photos kept for 30 days
Cons:
- Suggested "best photo" to keep sometimes not actually the best
- Doesn‘t work with videos, live photos, slo-mo, etc.
- Can‘t move photos to a Mac/PC, only delete them
- Pricey at $20/year or $3/month (limited free version available)
- Auto-renew subscription turned on by default
My main gripe with Gemini Photos is that its "machine learning" doesn‘t always pick the right shot to keep when comparing similar photos. You definitely need to double-check what it suggests deleting. I also wish it worked on videos and other media files besides pictures.
But for quickly finding and trashing the many duplicate and fuzzy photos cluttering up your iPhone, Gemini Photos does the job very well overall. Just reviewing all those redundant images manually would take hours.
Is Gemini Photos Worth Paying For?
Now for the big question – is Gemini Photos actually worth it? The answer really depends on your needs and how much you value your time.
If you‘re the type of person who…
- Takes a lot of photos on your iPhone
- Frequently screenshots things
- Hates scrolling through a cluttered camera roll
- Doesn‘t have time to manually compare/delete duplicates
- Needs to free up iPhone space for new pics or apps
…then spending a few bucks on Gemini Photos could be a good investment. It automates a tedious task, does it faster than you could by hand, and lets you quickly take back gigs of storage.
On the flip side, if you‘re a mobile photography pro who meticulously grooms their camera roll after every shoot, you probably don‘t need it. Ditto if you‘re really strapped for cash or just don‘t take that many photos, period.
Gemini Photos offers a free 3-day trial, so you can scan your library and see exactly how many redundant photos it finds before deciding to pay. For most casual-to-moderate iPhone shooters, reclaiming multiple gigabytes of space will likely be worth the price of a fancy coffee.
Gemini Photos Pricing & Compatibility
Gemini Photos has three subscription options:
- Monthly: $2.99/month
- Annual: $11.99/year (33% off)
- Lifetime: $14.99 one-time purchase
The app requires iOS 13 or later and works on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. There‘s no version for Android, Windows or macOS at this time.
Note that by default, Gemini Photos will auto-renew your monthly or annual subscription. To change that, go to your iPhone Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions > Gemini Photos and toggle off Automatic Renewal.
How to Cancel Your Gemini Photos Subscription
If you decide Gemini Photos isn‘t for you, cancelling your subscription is fairly easy.
On your iOS device, go to:
Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions > Gemini Photos > Cancel Subscription
Your access will continue until the next billing period, then expire. If you paid for a whole year upfront, you‘ll keep getting all premium features until that year is up.
Deleting the app itself won‘t stop your subscription, so be sure to cancel through Settings if you want to avoid future charges.
The Verdict on Gemini Photos
After putting Gemini Photos through its paces, I‘d recommend it for most iPhone users looking to put their photo libraries on a diet. While not perfect, it‘s a big time-saver over pruning duplicates the hard way.
Just remember to carefully review the auto-selected pics before mass deleting anything. And consider making a backup of your iPhone first, in case you accidentally trash a photo you meant to keep.
Recovering iPhone storage is an ongoing battle, but Gemini Photos provides a powerful weapon to have in your arsenal. It‘s simple to use, finds more than just literal duplicates, and makes an annoying chore kind of satisfying.
If you‘ve been putting off decluttering your camera roll, give Gemini Photos a shot. Snap a "before" pic of your remaining iPhone storage, do a full scan and cleanup, then marvel at how many gigs of space you‘ve freed up for new memories (and all those dog photos).