Cleaning your iPhone is an essential step in maintaining your device and making sure it runs smoothly. You could have a professional clean your device periodically, but that is not a cost-effective method, and it also means letting go of your device for a few hours while someone picks through it. The better solution for taking care of iPhone cleaning is to download a dedicated app for this purpose. We’ve compiled a list of the best cleaning apps currently available in the iPhone’s App Store to make things even easier for you.
Benefits of Using a Cleaning App on iOS
Using a cleaning app can be highly advantageous, especially if you are a heavy iPhone user. All smartphones tend to accumulate data with use – this includes temporary files, redundant files, junk files, and much more. Additionally, users and apps are wont to create files (and duplicates of files) that they do not use or need. The result is a massive amount of unnecessary data that can slow down your device, not to mention the reduced storage capacity.
Many people change their iPhone for newer models once they realize that their device is slowing up, under the false assumption that it has gotten too old and cannot be salvaged. On the contrary, using a cleaning app can significantly change the user experience. So if you find that your phone is slowing down, consider using a cleaning app before making any drastic decisions and purchasing a new device.
What Features Should I Look For in a Cleaning App?
If you are planning on downloading an app to help you clean up your iPhone, there are many factors that you should take into consideration. The reasons you need the app and the way you regularly use your phone will change the requirements you need from the app.
For example, if you take many photos (selfies, screenshots, burst photos, etc.) and videos, you may need an app that specifically deals with photo cleanup. This can be in the form of duplicate and similar photo deletion, while more advanced apps can help you choose the best photos in your gallery.
On the other hand, if you think that your device is slow due to too many apps running in the background, you may need to consider using an app that is specifically designed to deal with this issue. It should be able to close unwanted background apps without affecting the way you use your phone. The ideal app should be able to do this automatically without causing lags when you open up apps that you use on a daily basis.
Other features that are often included in cleaning apps:
- Contact list optimization – this feature will delete duplicate contacts, and some apps also merge the information from multiple copies to make sure you don’t lose any information.
- Device status – some apps give an overview of your device storage status to help illustrate how you are using the memory of your phone and where you need to focus your cleanup
- Battery optimization – apps that cleanup can sometimes give you better battery life by managing your apps better. Some even show this information as part of the device status report.
- Private browsing and privacy cleanup – this is a browser that will not store any of your data, so you can browse the internet entirely risk-free. Additionally, many cleanup apps will clean up your existing browsing history and call history to increase your device’s overall privacy.
You may need to consider whether it is better to use an app that you can download on your iPhone or one that can manage your device’s storage through your Mac (or Windows PC). This mainly comes down to how often you intend to use the app and what is more convenient for you. Also, keep in mind that while paid apps are generally more efficient and better at doing their job, there are still many free options that you can consider downloading. It all depends on how heavily you need the app to work and the frequency of use.
Our List of the Best iPhone Cleaning Apps
Clean Doctor
It’s one of the most popular iPhone Cleaning Apps, and for a good reason. The app is programmed for deep cleaning your storage space cleverly. It can even find duplicates of images and videos stored on your device, giving you the option to delete them from albums. Clean Doctor can also locate large files and delete them to provide you with some extra memory. Meanwhile, the app does not take up too much space or processing power from your phone. It also comes with additional features such as contacts cleanup, clipboard cleanup, and photo/contact privacy. The user interface is easy to get the hand of and uncomplicated. Widgets for the app include a battery widget, disk storage widget, start cleanup button and a custom photo widget. The app can also be transformed into a dark mode and offers many more features.
- Minimum requirements: iOS 9 or above
- Price: Free with in-app purchases for unlimited use.
Smart Cleaner – Clean Storage
This app provides excellent service using advanced technology to search through your device and get rid of your junk files. It can detect automatically saved files from apps that commonly cause a build-up of junk files such as Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Other unwanted photos like screenshots, similar (or duplicated) photos are also removed in the process. Smart Cleaner also expertly cleans up your contact list by merging contacts and getting rid of duplicates. Large file removal (including videos) is also an option to help you make room for storing other, more important, files. The app also recently added a private browsing feature.
- Minimum Requirements: iOS 11 or higher
- Price: Free with subscription option for unlimited access.
Cisdem iPhone Cleaner
Using this app means you never have to worry about insufficient storage space. This app is designed carefully to clean up your device with a user-friendly interface and without causing you any data loss. It gives users the option to backup their devices before its optimization procedure starts. Note that, unlike other apps, this one requires connection to your Mac first, which may be inconvenient, but it does a significantly better job at cleaning up all unwanted and unnecessary files.
- Minimum requirements: Mac device, any iPhone device.
- Price: $19.99 for a lifetime license
iFreeUp iPhone Cleaner
This is an app you can download on your Mac (or Windows PC) to manage your iPhone (or iPad) efficiently. You can use it to clear up large files, optimize your iOS, or even prevent privacy leaks. The app is a one-click solution to managing iPhone memory efficiently. You can quickly use the app for backup and restore functions and even transfer data between devices using this app.
- Minimum requirements: any iOS
- Price: Free
iChecker
One of the smartest apps we’ve come across, iChecker is incredibly easy to use and effectively manages internal device memory as well as RAM. The app shows its users details about the phone using smart graphic illustrations and gives the option of cleaning up some of that space in many different ways. Additionally, the app can optimize your contact list by merging and deleting contacts accordingly. In a few taps, you can check your device memory status and clean up efficiently as well. The app is available in English and simplified Chinese.
- Minimum requirements: iOS 8 or higher
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
PhoneClean
An excellent tool to clean up any device running on iOS, this app will deep clean your device in multiple ways. Additionally, it provides other maintenance tools within the app, such as RAM usage management and performance optimization. You can choose the Quick Clean option if you are in a hurry, which will only delete your cached files and large files. You can also perform a privacy cleanup, which deletes cookies and browsing history, among other privacy risks.
- Minimum requirements: any iOS
- Price: Free, upgradeable to PhoneClean Pro
Magic Cleaner – Clean Storage
Mainly a photo management tool, this app will help you delete the selfies that are saturating your device storage. It effectively detects similar and duplicate photos or videos, as well as other clutter such as blurry photos and old photos. Within seconds, you can clear up a large amount of storage space (Gigabytes!). Although the app can’t manage your device memory, it doesn’t discount its usefulness because it is designed for higher iOS (which does an amazing job at managing cache and junk files).
- Minimum requirements: iOS 13 or higher
- Price: Free trial, subscription for unlimited access.
Cleaner One – Clean Storage
This app provides a lot of utility in one place, with many functional features such as the photo cleaner and bulk photo remover. One unique feature we found in the app was that it could scan your photos to see which ones pose a privacy risk (such as photos that contain sensitive information that can be used in identity theft). You can quickly delete these photos to keep your device secure and avoid any security risks. It also has a contact cleaner and private contacts manager.
- Minimum requirements: iOS 11 or higher
- Price: Free to download; subscription varies by location.
Quick Heal Optimizer
This app is specifically designed for older devices with a lower RAM, where conserving resources is critical. Quick Heal can put unused applications in hibernation mode, freeing up resources and optimizing your device. A feature like that is essential for older phones, but it’s still somewhat beneficial for phones with iOS 12 or more as well. The app deletes temporary files that have a tendency to accumulate and slow down devices, especially older ones. It also has a contacts backup/restore feature.
- Minimum requirements: iOS 7 or higher
- Price: Free
Phone Cleaner for iPhone, iPad
This app will help you quickly free up your storage space, optimize your iPhone. It operates in different ways, with multiple features. Sort your files or filter them to control exactly which files get deleted and avoid data loss.
It can also assist you by detecting duplicate photos and gives suggestions for file deletion.
- Minimum requirements: iOS 10.3 or higher
- Price: $2.99 monthly subscription, 7 days free trial period.
Gemini Photos
The ultimate photo cleanup tool, Gemini Photos, allows users to deep clean their camera roll and other albums to conserve their storage space. Within minutes, you can get rid of photos you don’t need. It will also manage the photos on your iCloud, detecting duplicates (whether on your device or the cloud) and allowing for fast deletion. It can also help you pick and choose your best photos to keep!
- Minimum requirements: iOS 13 or higher
- Price: Free
Magic Phone Cleaner
This is a simple app that packs a punch because although it uses up very little memory itself, Magic Phone Cleaner can delete multiple large files quickly and efficiently. Note that it only targets unwanted and junk files without any risk to your critical files. It can help optimize your device and allow smoother processing. The app is available in up to twelve languages.
- Minimum requirements: iOS 9 or higher
- Price: Free
Bottom line
Although iPhones can manage storage space pretty well, it doesn’t hurt to help them out a little. This is especially useful for older models that do not have much RAM space, as they are not well-equipped for the latest app updates. Additionally, heavy users may find that they quickly accumulate unwanted and useless files that they are better off deleting.
It is highly advisable to consider using these types of apps before giving up on a slowing iPhone, as they can make a huge difference in device performance. The extra storage space can be used to store new, more relevant, and useful files. Choose any app from the above list, and you won’t regret it. If you are still hesitant, use free trials (or free apps) for a week to see for yourself how much of a difference these apps can make to your device.