PhotoCull
How to free up your iPhone from a Mac or Windows PC
Cleaning a full iPhone on the iPhone is tedious. From a computer you can see far more photos at once and decide faster. Here is the whole process.
What you need
- A Mac (Apple Silicon, macOS 11+) or a Windows 10/11 PC.
- A USB cable. On Windows, also the free Apple Devices app from the Microsoft Store.
- PhotoCull, free for both systems.
- For deleting from the iPhone: the free TripSweep app on the iPhone.
Step by step
1. Plug in and trust. Connect the iPhone, unlock it and tap Trust.
2. Open the Trips view. PhotoCull groups your camera roll by trip and shows the space each takes.
3. Sort the heaviest trips. Compare similar shots, keep the best, and mark the rest, plus screenshots and big videos you don't need.
4. Confirm the deletion. From a Mac, the deletion is applied on the iPhone by TripSweep through “Recently Deleted”, on Windows too. Nothing is permanently erased at once.
5. Empty “Recently Deleted”. The storage comes back once the album is emptied.
Is it safe?
Yes: your photos stay on your devices, with no account, no cloud and no upload. Deleted photos stay 30 days in “Recently Deleted”, and PhotoCull only reads your photos until you confirm.
How many photos can I delete per day?
From a Mac, free allows 6 photos a day, TripSweep Pro 15 and Pro + Desktop is unlimited (see the plans on the TripSweep page). All are one-time purchases with no subscription. Browsing, comparing and sorting are free, and sorting a folder on your computer is never limited.
On Windows
The steps are the same on Windows 10 and 11. Install the free Apple Devices app from the Microsoft Store first, so PhotoCull can read the iPhone. The app is not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn on first launch.