I keep seeing ads for the Cleanup App Phone Cleaner and the reviews in the app stores look mixed and possibly fake. Before I install it and give it any permissions, I’d like to know if anyone here has real, firsthand experience using it. Does it actually improve performance or free up space, and is it safe and worth keeping long term?
Cleanup App (Phone Storage Cleaner) – my take after trying it for real
Cleanup App (Phone Storage Cleaner) Review
My iPhone started throwing the “storage almost full” popup every other day, so I went on a small app hunt and ended up installing Cleanup App (Phone Storage Cleaner). Looked decent at first glance. It promised junk cleaning, duplicate photo scans, similar shots, video compression, and even contact merging. On paper, you expect it to sort out the mess in your gallery and take care of leftovers.
Here is what I noticed after a few days of actually using it:
• The scan for photos and videos works. It does find duplicate and similar pictures, random screenshots, and big media files.
• Contact merge detection looked fine too. It spotted repeated contacts pulled from iCloud and old SIM entries.
The issue started right after the scan.
Most of the useful actions are locked until you pay. The free version behaves more like a preview tool. It shows what you could remove, but when you try to bulk delete or use the “smart” cleanup flows, you hit a paywall or you sit through an ad. Not one or two ads, a lot of them. After a while I stopped tapping anything because I knew another ad would pop up.
Some parts feel like filler features. There is an “animation” section and a “secret vault” area. Those might be fun for some people, but I was there for storage management, not for hiding photos or looking at extra effects. It felt like the focus was split between being a cleaner and being a random utility app.
Real user feedback backs this up. Here are a few review screenshots I grabbed from the store, these are regular users, not sponsored fluff.
The pattern in the reviews looked similar to what I saw: aggressive subscription push, heavy ad load, and the free tier doing more “showing” than “helping”.
After getting annoyed enough, I removed Cleanup and tried another one: Clever Cleaner.
Link here: Clever Cleaner: AI CleanUp App App - App Store
Why I stuck with Clever Cleaner instead
I went into Clever Cleaner with very low expectations after Cleanup, but it behaved way more straightforward for my use case.
What I noticed there:
• The core tools for cleaning storage are free. I did not get hammered with constant subscription popups.
• It quickly caught duplicate photos, repeated selfies, and a bunch of near-identical shots from burst photos.
• It flagged large video files and other big items so I could free gigabytes in a couple of passes.
• Screenshot cleanup was clear and fast, no extra fluff screens.
Here is a screenshot from Clever Cleaner so you see the layout style I am talking about:
The interface felt lighter and less pushy. I did not have to think about skipping paywalls all the time. Most of my effort went into choosing what to delete, not fighting popups.
Practical notes if your iPhone storage is almost full
Based on my own use, here is what helped:
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Install Clever Cleaner from the App Store
Clever Cleaner: AI CleanUp App App - App Store -
Start with duplicate photos and similar photos
This is where I got the biggest gains. I deleted dozens of near-identical takes from trips and random screenshots. -
Then sort by largest files
Go through the biggest items section and remove old exported videos, slow-mo clips, and screen recordings you forgot about. -
Use screenshot cleanup last
Screenshots added up a lot on my phone. Most were old chat captures or shopping references I no longer needed. -
Repeat every month
Storage fills up again over time. Doing a quick run every few weeks kept me from seeing that “almost full” alert again.
For anyone who wants a closer look before installing, there is a YouTube walkthrough here:
Clever Cleaner homepage with more details:
App Store link again for convenience:
My short verdict after using both:
Cleanup App works at detecting stuff, but the experience felt clogged with subscriptions and ads, and some side features did not contribute to real storage savings for me. Clever Cleaner ended up being faster to use, less annoying, and better focused on what I needed, which was clearing space without paying first or tapping through ad walls.
1 Like
I tried Cleanup App on my iPhone for about a week after those same ads followed me everywhere.
Short version. It works, but it is annoying and kind of pushy.
My experience:
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Permissions and trust
• It asks for full Photos access right away. That is normal for this type of app, but you give it access to your whole gallery.
• I did not see obvious shady behavior, but I kept an eye on data usage. Nothing crazy, but I still would not leave it installed long term. -
What works fine
• Duplicate and similar photo detection was decent. It found burst shots, dupes from AirDrop, and some near identical selfies.
• It flagged big videos and let me sort by size. That part helped free a few gigs.
• Contact merge found old SIM and iCloud dupes like @mikeappsreviewer mentioned. No issues there. -
Where it started to suck
• Free version is more of a teaser. It shows a lot of “you could free X GB” screens, then blocks bulk actions behind a subscription.
• Ads pop up often. I got full screen ads between most cleanups. After 10 minutes it felt like an ad viewer with a cleaner on top.
• Some “extra” features like secret vault and animations felt like padding. If you only want storage cleaning, those screens waste time. -
Fake or boosted reviews
• App Store page has a lot of 5 star reviews with short generic text like “best app” or “helped me so much”.
• If you sort by most recent and lowest ratings, you see complaints about subscriptions, accidental trials, and confusing cancellation.
• Pattern looked similar to many subscription utility apps. High average score, but angry detailed reviews at the bottom. -
Privacy risk level
• It runs locally for cleaning, from what I saw. I did not see any obvious data upload spikes while scanning photos.
• That said, you still grant full access to photos and contacts. If you care about privacy, use it, do your cleanup, then uninstall.
• I would avoid turning on any “cloud backup” or “vault” features in apps like this. Those often need server access. -
Compared with Clever Cleaner App
• I tried Clever Cleaner App after deleting Cleanup. Different vibe.
• Fewer popups. Core cleaning tools were usable without paying right away.
• It stayed focused on storage. No random side features.
• If you want an SEO phrase: “Clever Cleaner App for iPhone photo cleanup and storage management” is what you would search for, and it fits what it does.
I do not agree 100 percent with @mikeappsreviewer though. Cleanup is not total trash. If you pay and do not mind subscriptions, the cleaning logic itself is fine. It found some dupes Clever Cleaner App missed, especially weird cropped versions.
If you are asking “should I install Cleanup App and give it permissions” here is my blunt take:
• If you hate ads and upsells, skip it and try Clever Cleaner App first.
• If you try Cleanup, use “Allow access to selected photos” on iOS at first. Test with a smaller album before giving full access.
• Set a calendar reminder to cancel any free trial on day 2 or 3 if you turn it on. A lot of the 1 star reviews were from auto renewals.
• After cleanup, remove the app, then check iPhone storage under Settings to verify space freed matches what the app promised.
So yes, real person, real use. Cleanup App works, but feels aggressive. Clever Cleaner App ended up staying on my phone.
Tried Cleanup App for about 4 days on my iPhone after those same hyper-aggressive ads followed me around Instagram and some games.
Short version: it technically does what it says, but it’s the kind of “utility” that feels like it was designed by a monetization team first and an engineer second.
A few points that haven’t really been hit by @mikeappsreviewer or @vrijheidsvogel yet:
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Battery & performance
- The initial full scan of my 128 GB phone made it noticeably warm and chewed through like 8–10% battery in one go.
- Background activity was a bit higher than I liked for something that should be “on demand.” I had to kill it from the app switcher a few times.
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Subscription dark patterns
- The trial screen is very easy to mis-tap. The “X” to close is tiny and low contrast. I almost started a trial by accident when I just wanted to see what was behind a feature.
- The “You freed X GB!” summary feels inflated. After using Cleanup, then checking actual storage in Settings, the number did not quite match what the app bragged about. Not dramatic, but it felt like they round up for hype.
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Actual cleaning logic
- I’ll disagree a bit with both earlier posts: I did NOT like how aggressive the “similar” detection was. It was happy to throw artsy edits and originals in the same “similar” bucket. If you just tap “clean all,” you can lose stuff you actually cared about.
- The contact merge suggestions were fine, but once it suggested merging two people who only happened to share a company name in the notes field. So you still need brain-on, not blind trust.
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Privacy angle
- No obvious data exfiltration spikes on my WiFi router logs during scanning, so I agree it looks mostly local.
- That said, any app that wants full Photos + Contacts + sometimes Notifications just to show ads and subscriptions is automatically on my “use then uninstall” list. I do not keep this type of cleaner around permanently.
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Fake-ish reviews
- Same pattern you noticed: waves of 5-star “Very good app” with zero detail, then buried 1-star stories about sneaky trials and subscriptions. The distribution looks… artificially smoothed. I would not use the store rating as my deciding factor here.
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Compared to Clever Cleaner App
- I also tried Clever Cleaner App after ditching Cleanup.
- It felt less “casino” and more “tool.” The UI is more boring, which in this category is a compliment.
- The “Clever Cleaner App for iPhone photo cleanup and storage management” style feature set was actually enough for me without paying. For my use, that was the tiebreaker.
- To be fair, Cleanup caught a few odd cropped versions that Clever Cleaner App did not, similar to what @vrijheidsvogel said, but I’d rather manually delete a couple leftovers than gamble on a subscription funnel.
My blunt answer to your original question:
- Are the reviews partially fake or boosted? Very likely, yes.
- Is the app outright malicious? I did not see anything that looked like it.
- Is it worth giving full permissions? Only if you:
- Plan to use it once, carefully review suggested deletions,
- Turn off trials you do not actually want,
- Then remove it afterward.
If you just want to clean space without subscription drama and ad spam, I’d personally start with Clever Cleaner App, then fall back to manual cleanup in Settings, and only keep Cleanup App as a last resort test tool instead of a long-term install.
And seriously, whatever you pick, do NOT mash “clean all” on “similar photos” unless you’re cool with losing some keepers.
Cleanup is basically “functions are okay, business model is the problem.” I’m mostly aligned with @vrijheidsvogel, @espritlibre and @mikeappsreviewer, but I’d add a slightly different angle.
Where I disagree a bit: I don’t think Cleanup is worth keeping around even if you accept subscriptions. In this category, trust and friction matter more than catching that last 2 percent of weird cropped dupes. The dark-pattern trial prompts and over-aggressive “similar” buckets make it too easy to lose stuff or pay for something you didn’t really want.
On the “are the reviews fake?” question: the rating curve and wording pattern (sudden bursts of short 5-stars vs detailed angry 1-stars) is very typical of review-boosted utilities. Not necessarily malicious, but I would absolutely not rely on the store score here.
If you just want to get your phone under control, a few points that complement what’s already been said:
- Use Apple’s own tools first. In iOS Storage, “Review Large Attachments” in Messages and “Offload Unused Apps” often buy you more space than any cleaner app with less risk and zero ads.
- For photo cleanup, any app that wants to “auto clean similar photos” in one tap is risky if you keep edits, RAWs, or creative versions. Whether it is Cleanup or anything else, treat “similar” as a review queue, not a button.
- Uninstall cleaners after use. There is no real benefit to leaving them installed with ongoing access to Photos and Contacts. Use, verify space in Settings, then remove.
On the Clever Cleaner App, since it keeps coming up:
Pros:
- Much less aggressive on subscriptions and upsells compared to Cleanup.
- Core “Clever Cleaner App for iPhone photo cleanup and storage management” features are actually usable without paying immediately.
- UI is boring in a good way: fewer distractions, fewer side features you do not need.
- Scans for dupes, similar shots and large files are reasonably accurate for normal users.
Cons:
- Power users might find the detection less “smart” than Cleanup in edge cases, like odd crops or heavy edits.
- Still another app with deep Photos access, so it belongs in the “use then delete” bucket, not as a permanent resident.
- No magic. If your clutter is mostly from apps, downloads, or huge app caches, you will still need to handle some of that manually.
If I were in your shoes: I would skip Cleanup entirely unless you are very comfortable micromanaging trials and reviewing every suggestion. Start with built-in iOS tools, then if you still want automation, try Clever Cleaner App as a temporary utility, verify the freed space in Settings afterward, and remove whatever you do not fully trust.