# Lean - Clean up Live Photos

> Converts Live Photos to standard photos to save iPhone storage. (iPhone/iPad app by Tiny Whale Pte. Ltd..)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lean-clean-up-live-photos/id1051075379 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Tiny Whale Pte. Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/369008122)
- Category: Photo & Video, Utilities
- Price: $4.99
- Rating: 1.90/5 from 73 App Store ratings · 179 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 9.0 · 5 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2015-10-26
- Data updated: 2026-08-18
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lean-clean-up-live-photos/id1051075379/reviews.md

## What is Lean?

Lean helps you save space on your iPhone by cleaning up your unwanted Live Photos, making them normal photos (or Feature Photos as @siracusa put it).

Think of landscape photos, which most of the time are with very little movement. Even if you go to Photos app and mark it as non-Live Photo, it doesn't really remove anything (you can revert back anytime). That fills up your precious space, especially for those of your who are on 16GB iPhone. So Lean is a really simple that does exactly that, remove the "Live" part out of Live Photos.

Lean is extremely simple, it takes your unwanted Live Photo and chunk out a normal one, then delete the Live Photo. Lean also comes some cool features:

- Lean saves your normal photo with exact same metadata (EXIF, GPS, Creation Date) as your Live Photo.
- Lean is defensive. We really care for users' data and we spent a great deal of time to make sure Lean never removes a Live Photo without making a copy.

Enjoy!

## Key features

- Converts Live Photos to normal photos
- Saves storage space
- Preserves EXIF and GPS metadata
- Creates a copy before deleting Live Photo
- Simple and efficient

## What do users think of Lean?

Overall sentiment: negative

**Pros**

- ✅ Successfully converts Live Photos to static images
- 💾 Recovers significant storage space (several GB)
- ⚡ Fast processing once working properly
- 🎯 Preserves original photo metadata and timestamps
- 🔍 Easy to identify and view all Live Photos
- 📱 Minimal app size
- 👍 Simple and intuitive user interface

**Cons**

- 🐛 Persistent 'not enough storage' error despite available space
- ❌ Fails to process multiple photos in batch mode
- 🔄 Scrambles photo chronological order in library
- 🗑️ Deletes photos without creating replacements
- 📍 Removes EXIF metadata (location, date, time, lens info)
- 📂 Doesn't save converted photos to original folder locations
- 🔌 Incompatible with iCloud-backed photos
- 💥 Frequent crashes and error messages
- 🚫 No customer support or developer communication
- 📸 Converted photos appear as 'most recent' instead of chronologically
- ⚠️ Doesn't actually reduce file size despite claims
- 🔍 Cannot detect edited or cropped Live Photos

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Storage space error appears even with ample free space available
- App crashes when processing multiple photos
- Photos deleted without static replacement created
- Metadata and timestamps stripped from converted images
- Converted photos appear out of chronological order
- App fails to recognize Live Photos in library
- File size remains unchanged after conversion
- iCloud-synced photos deleted without processing
- Duplicate photos appearing in library
- App stops working after processing 50-200 photos
- Error messages with no clear resolution path

**Most requested features**

- Select All button for bulk processing
- Batch conversion functionality
- Option to choose which frame to save from Live Photo
- Ability to disable Live without deleting original
- Automatic processing of entire Live Album
- Save converted photos to original location/folder
- Preserve chronological order of converted photos
- Retain all EXIF data during conversion
- Support for edited/cropped Live Photos
- Accessible customer support channel

## Recent user reviews (10 of 179)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lean-clean-up-live-photos/id1051075379/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Thank god

*2025-02-02, version 1.9.1*

This app save my life!!!

### 1/5 — Waste of money

*2024-07-17, version 1.9.1*

I should have read the reviews first. I want my money back.

### 1/5 — Avoid this app! Good idea but waste of money

*2023-10-07, version 1.9.1*

Awful execution of a good idea. 
The size of the photos remains the same! That defeats the whole idea of converting from live to single photo. 
In addition, the app deletes all the meta data, such as location, data and time.

### 2/5 — Problematischer Datentransfer

*2023-09-27, version 1.9.1*

Was die App macht, ist sehr gut. Eigentlich!
Mich stört auch nicht die Tatsache, dass die Fotos unter „Zuletzt“ als neue auftauchen - das wusste ich ja vorher.
Allerdings verweigert diese App immer wieder ihre Arbeit und behauptet, mein Speicher wäre wahrscheinlich voll (ist er aber nicht!). Liegt es vielleicht eher daran, dass die Server des Entwicklers nicht erreichbar sind, um die „statistischen“ Daten zu senden? Selbst wenn das vom Datenschutz her unbedenklich ist, darf davon nicht der Erfolg des Umwandelns abhängen!
Bitte korrigieren!

### 1/5 — Useless.

*2023-06-17, version 1.9.1*

You can actually do what this app claims to by taking a screenshot.

### 1/5 — Failure if not a fraud

*2022-10-04, version 1.9.1*

It says I have no Live Photos to fix, which is wrong. I have 1322, which it ignores. There are ZERO instructions, so app does nothing. Do not buy. Disgusting that Apple allows this in the App Store, and Apple should allow refunds. If no stars were available option  that is what this app deserves.

### 1/5 — Does not work

*2022-09-03, version 1.9.1*

It does not work after I changed about 70 photos. Not loading after I tried to change more photos and changing photo order now everything is a mess. Can you consider refunding me for this app?

### 1/5 — Lean did not work at all on my iphone 15.5

*2022-07-30, version 1.9.1*

Lean did not work at all on my iPhone 15.5

### 5/5 — It just works!

*2022-04-07, version 1.9.1*

If you're getting error messages about free space, but you have the space, the problem's most likely you've already backed up to iPhoto. So the live photo's in the cloud. Delete your unwanted live photos before you plug in at home, or on a device that stores your full resolution photos, and you'll be good! Been using this app for years, couldn't live without it!

### 2/5 — No “select all” option…?

*2022-02-15, version 1.8*

I’ve got about 5000 I want to convert. No “select all” option means it’s going to take me forever 😅 I wouldn’t have paid £4.49 for it if I’d know.

## Frequently asked questions about Lean

### What does Lean do?

Lean helps you save space on your iPhone by converting your Live Photos into standard, non-live photos. It effectively removes the "Live" part of the photo, creating a regular image that takes up less storage.

### How does Lean save space?

By converting Live Photos into normal photos, the app significantly reduces the storage footprint. Live Photos contain both a still image and a short video clip, whereas a normal photo is just the still image, thus saving considerable space, especially on devices with limited storage.

### Does Lean remove my original Live Photos?

No, Lean is designed to be defensive with user data. Before deleting the original Live Photo, it ensures that a copy of the normal photo has been successfully created. This prevents any accidental data loss.

### Does Lean preserve photo metadata?

Yes, Lean saves the converted normal photo with the exact same metadata as the original Live Photo. This includes important information like EXIF data and GPS location, ensuring your photos retain their original details.

### Is Lean compatible with all iPhones?

The app is designed for iPhones, specifically targeting users who want to manage their Live Photos to save storage. While the description doesn't specify iOS version requirements, it's generally intended for modern iPhones that support Live Photos.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.9.1 — 2022-02-16

- Fix a crash on iOS 15.2.
- Fix a bug with missing metadata.

### 1.8 — 2021-11-25

Bug fixes and improvements.

### 1.7 — 2021-11-17

- Bug fixes.
- Support for iPad.

### 1.6 — 2020-12-22

Better support for iOS 14.

### 1.5 — 2020-10-29

Support for iPhone 12.

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## More apps by Tiny Whale Pte. Ltd.

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All apps by Tiny Whale Pte. Ltd.: https://appshunter.io/developer/369008122

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-18.*