Gallery Doctor
A fix for trigger-happy photographers
The better the iPhone’s camera, the more it gets used. And – not meaning to be unkind – not every picture you take is Pulitzer-worthy.
Gallery Doctor offers to perform miracles: going through your photo roll and automatically picking out shots you should get rid of.
Scanning our test library, comprising several years’ worth of photography, took a while. Things were wrapping up ten minutes later, so being connected to a charger is a good idea. The scan takes in both local photos and those on iCloud.
Photos are split into ‘Bad’ photos, ‘Similar’ photos and ‘For Review’. Bad was pretty effective at finding blurry shots or those with large areas of shadow (likely underexposed). Getting rid of bad photos takes a single tap, with an info bar at the bottom of the screen showing how much space is about to be liberated.
‘Similar’ groups images that look the same, and allows you to erase the whole lot or save individuals. It also attempts to pick the best photo. There’s an irritation here – the only way to view said photo full‑screen is to tap and hold your finger on the screen, thereby obscuring part of the shot.
Finally, photos for review are those Gallery Doctor can’t make up its mind about. This produces a screen prompting irresistible comparisons with Tinder: swipe right to save images or left to delete.
Gallery Doctor works well (highlighting similar photos in particular). We’re lukewarm over its ability to detect bad ones, though: some are worth keeping despite their technical deficiencies, so we’d tread cautiously with the delete all option. Dave Stevenson
A clever, effective way of spring-cleaning your camera roll – just be careful not to mistakenly delete photos you mean to keep!