Gemini Photos F.A.Q.

Gemini Photos is a life-saver app for those who have an ever-growing collection of pictures on an iPhone. This tool thoroughly analyzes your library, finds similar and likely unneeded photos and suggests you the best of a kind. It helps you make your photo library leaner and easier to navigate.

To simplify your choice, Gemini Photos applies a sophisticated comparison mechanism that enables spot-on detection of the best shots. However, all final decisions remain under your control.

You can install Gemini on an iPhone with iOS 11 or higher.

For now, you can use Gemini Photos on an iPhone with iOS 11+ installed. The number of devices that is covered by your subscription or license complies with the App Store terms and conditions.

When you open Gemini Photos for the first time, it automatically starts scanning your library. This task is quite complicated and resource-intensive, especially if you have a vast collection of photos. So, please be prepared to wait a little until Gemini finishes analyzing your library. Next time you open Gemini, it uses available scan results and analyzes only the recent changes in the library. This approach saves your time and minimizes the load.

Gemini Photos divides all found pictures into two major categories: Similar and Clutter.

Similar

Identical or nearly identical photos that are usually taken with a few-second delay and capture the same object on the same background, including those taken from a different angle.Gemini groups a range of similar photos into a set, marks a “Best Result,” and automatically selects the rest for removal.Please note that, by default, Gemini doesn’t select the photos you previously added to Favorites.

Clutter

The Clutter category includes three groups of pictures:

• Blurred: Unclear, out-of-focus shots that capture moving objects or objects without a distinct outline. Note that this group may contain both bad shots and intentionally made blurry photos.
• Notes: Photos of text: documents, receipts, schedules, whiteboards.
• Screenshots: Images that capture your iPhone screens.

By default, the app selects all pictures in this category for removal.

Other

The rest of the photos from your phone that aren't included to the Similar or Clutter categories are placed here. Gemini Photos gathers them to simplify the overall review of your library. The Other category doesn't contain hidden and burst photos.

Gemini Photos uses various criteria to sort photos correctly and choose the best one to keep, but you may have a different opinion on this account. Thus, you should review all photos in every category before deleting them.

“Similar” is a Gemini Photos category that contains sets of alike photos. Usually, similar photos are taken at the same time (e.g., with a delay of 2-4 seconds) and capture the same object or view, sometimes from a different angle. For example, it can be a set of pictures that capture a cat lying on a blanket in different poses.

Gemini Photos uses its unique selection mechanism to define the “Best Result” in a set and marks all the rest for removal. However, Gemini doesn’t automatically select any of your favorite photos for removal. Please make sure that the app made a correct choice before you start the cleanup.

Gemini Photos puts all screenshots, receipts, captures of texts, blurred pictures, and other photos of that kind to the “Clutter” category. All these photos are distributed among three groups: “Blurred,” “Notes,” and “Screenshots.”We assume you don’t need these pictures, so we put them in a single place to simplify the cleanup of your library. However, you should check if you need any of these and only then dump the rest into the trash. Note that, by default, Gemini Photos selects all pictures in this category for removal.

The "Other" category allows you to review all photos from your library that aren't placed to "Similar" or "Clutter." Gemini Photos doesn't give any recommendations here, it just lets you swipe photos to keep them or remove. 

You won't find burst and hidden pictures in this category.

Gemini Photos groups all unclear and out-of-focus pictures as “Blurred.” Generally, these are photos that capture moving objects or objects without a distinct outline.By default, the app considers all photos in this group worth removing. However, make sure Gemini Photos got it right and isn’t suggesting you delete one of your favorite blurry night lights.

Gemini’s “Notes” may contain pictures of receipts, tickets, leaflets, ads, screenshots with some text, and so on. Literally all photos that are mainly text.

To take a closer look at a photo within a category, just tap it.The “Similar” category includes sets of photos that are grouped by the date of their creation. Therefore, scroll up and down to view all found sets of similar photos and then tap the set you’d like to view. Swipe left or right to switch between the photos in the set.Photos in “Clutter” are grouped into “Blurred,” “Notes,” and “Screenshots.” If you tap a group, you see all photos at once — there are no sets. So, you need to scroll through a group of photos and tap a photo you’d like to preview.

To preview a photo in “Clutter,” do this:

1. Tap an appropriate group: “Blurred,” “Notes,” and “Screenshots.”
2. Scroll through thumbnails of photos and tap the one you want to preview.

To preview a photo in “Similar,” do the following:

1. Tap the “Similar” category.
2. Scroll through available dates and tap a photo set you’d like to check.
3. Swipe left or right to switch between photo previews. Or, scroll up and down to move to a previous or next photo set.

To view a live photo, press and hold the screen when you previewing the photo.

During the scanning process, Gemini Photos automatically selects photos that you might want to remove from your library. They are marked with a red checkmark icon.By default, all photos in “Clutter” are selected for removal, so you just need to review them and tap Delete in the lower-right corner of the screen. After you confirm your decision, all photos within the corresponding group will be removed.As for the “Similar” category, you do this:

1. Open the “Similar” category.
2. Tap any set and review photos selected for removal.
3. If you agree with a “Best Result” choice, tap a trash bin icon under the set.Otherwise, deselect the photo you’d like to keep and select those that must be removed. Then, tap the trash bin icon.
4. Tap Delete in the lower-right corner of the screen when all choices are made.

If you want to empty your library and remove every single photo in it (not only Gemini’s selections but all photos you have), there’s a solution. Tap the menu icon in the upper-right corner of the screen and then scroll to the bottom. Tap Delete Photo Library if you’re sure there’s nothing to keep.Now all photos from your iPhone are moved to Recently Deleted.

Please note that you have 30 days to restore removed photos until they’re gone forever.

Yes, you definitely should review all pictures found by Gemini Photos before removing them. Although the app is smart and can automatically define sets of similar photos and best shots, you may have a different opinion. Gemini gladly simplifies your choice, but we believe that you must make the decision personally.

Unfortunately, no. For now, Gemini Photos can’t analyze videos. It is a technically difficult and time-consuming process, which we hope Gemini Photos will learn to run someday.

Gemini Photos uses complex algorithms, one of which focuses on determining the best photo in a set of similar ones. This algorithm analyses information about changes and edits made to photos, takes into account your favorites, processes face detection data, and so on. With this information, Gemini selects the “best result” photo and marks it with a corresponding label.Anyway, you should make sure that you agree with Gemini’s suggestion.

Yes, you can download Gemini Photos from the App Store and use it for free during 3 days. You can try the cleanup functionality of the “Similar” category only once, but you can check the scan results and review the photos without limits. The “Clutter” category remains fully available, and you can use it absolutely for free.

Gemini treats your photos very carefully and doesn’t remove anything automatically. It only helps you make a choice faster with its “best result” suggestions, which you can override at any moment.Moreover, even if you accidentally delete the wrong photo, there’s always a way back. Gemini Photos follows the regular removal process in the Photos app: when you delete photos, they aren’t gone for good immediately. Gemini puts all removed pictures to the Recently Deleted album for 30 days so that you can recover them if you need to. After this period, Photos automatically removes items from your iPhone forever.Gemini respects your privacy and works with your Photos library anonymously and locally. In other words, your photos remain stored on your device only and are not uploaded anywhere.

Gemini Photos is an offline app that processes your library right on your iPhone without transferring photos elsewhere. It doesn’t need the Internet connection to complete the analysis, and it doesn’t send any reports, except for anonymous technical logs.Gemini asks your permission to access the photo library only to find similar and other unneeded pictures. For this purpose, the app may use face detection data and information like whether a photo has been edited or added to Favorites.

If you changed your mind about deleting some of your photos, you can easily bring them back.Gemini Photos puts all removed pictures to the Recently Deleted album in Photos. After the cleanup, you have 30 days to recover the photos. Later, they are erased from your iPhone completely.So, to restore a photo deleted less than 30 days ago, do this:

1. Open Photos and go to the Recently Deleted album.
2. Tap Select in the upper-right corner.
3. Tap the photo you’d like to put back.
4. Tap Recover.

If you want to restore all recently deleted photos, tap Select and then tap Recover All in the upper-left corner. Please note that you may restore not only photos removed by Gemini, but also some other recently deleted photos.

If Gemini offers you to remove a set of photos you’d like to keep, you can hide them from the scan results.To hide a set of photos in “Similar,” tap the set of photos and then tap the Ignore icon under the lower-left corner of the preview.To hide a photo in “Clutter,” tap the photo and then tap Ignore in the upper-right corner of the screen. To view pictures in the Ignore List, tap the menu icon in the upper-right corner and then tap Ignore List.To bring a photo back to scan results, open the Ignore List and tap a photo/set of photos. Then, tap Unignore in the lower-left corner.

You can cancel your Gemini Photos subscription like any other iTunes or App Store subscription:

1. Open your iPhone settings.
2. Tap iTunes & App Stores > your Apple ID name > View Apple ID. 
3. Then, tap Subscriptions > Gemini Photos.
4. Tap Cancel Subscription at the bottom of the screen.

Done! More information about managing App Store subscriptions is here.