MetadataCleaner vs ViewItOnce
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MetadataCleaner
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MetadataCleaner helps you share photos and supported documents with less hidden information attached. Photos can contain metadata such as GPS location, camera and device details, capture timestamps, software tags, and other image metadata. MetadataCleaner scans selected images, previews what will change, and creates clean copies for sharing. Your original files are not modified. Free is built for quick, safe photo cleanups: • Up to 10 images per batch • 3 cleanup batches per day • Preview before cleaning • Remove supported location, device, timestamp, camera, software, and other basic image metadata • One saved Quick Clean preset • A clear before-and-after summary MetadataCleaner Pro is a one-time upgrade for repeatable professional workflows: • Unlimited images and batches • Folder processing from Files while the app is open • Unlimited saved presets, including Share Safely, Client Delivery, Social Media, and Archive • Supported field actions to retain, remove, replace, redact, or normalize image metadata • Searchable metadata inspection, before-and-after comparison, local history, and export receipts • Local cleaned copies of supported PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Standard authorship, comments, and revision artifacts are removed where technically supported. Privacy remains central. Supported photos and documents are processed locally on your device while the app is open, and originals are preserved by default. The app does not require an account or upload your files to our servers.
ViewItOnce
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ViewItOnce sends photos that actually disappear, right inside your iMessage conversations. Most "disappearing photo" apps still keep a copy somewhere. ViewItOnce doesn't. Your photo is encrypted on your phone before it leaves, our servers only ever hold scrambled bytes they can't read, and the moment your photo has been seen, it's deleted. Not hidden. Deleted. HOW IT WORKS Open a chat in Messages, tap the apps button next to the text field, and pick ViewItOnce. Choose a photo, pick how long it lives, and send. Your friend gets a card in the conversation; when they tap it, the photo appears for one look and then burns. One button switches between "View once", "One replay" for people who blink at the wrong moment, and "Keep in chat" when you just want to send a normal photo. THE APP IS FOR PAIRING Open the ViewItOnce app to connect with someone using a QR code or a six-digit code. You don't need an account, a phone number, or an email. Pairing is optional for sending, but it's how you and one specific person confirm you're talking to each other and nobody in between. WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT The photo itself never travels through the message. Your recipient gets a small card in the chat; the actual photo sits encrypted on our servers, gets fetched when they tap, and is destroyed after viewing. Nothing usable is left behind in the conversation, in backups, or with us. Photos are never saved to disk unencrypted on either phone. Location data and other photo metadata are stripped before sending. A word of honesty: no app can stop someone from taking a screenshot, and nothing stops a person from pointing another camera at their screen. ViewItOnce keeps copies of your photo from existing; it can't control the person you sent it to. Send accordingly. WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT YOU Almost nothing, by design. No accounts. Your device makes up a random ID and cryptographic keys on first launch, and that's all we ever see. We can't read your photos even if we wanted to. VIEWITONCE PLUS Sending disappearing photos is a subscription: ViewItOnce Plus costs $9.99 a year and starts with a free week. Opening photos other people send you is free and always will be, as is pairing and the "Keep in chat" option. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the period ends, and you can manage or cancel it any time in your Apple Account settings. Any unused part of a free trial is forfeited if you buy a subscription during the trial. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://viewitonce.pawels-apps.workers.dev/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: ViewItOnce at monthly against MetadataCleaner's every 3 months. MetadataCleaner's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. MetadataCleaner sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and ViewItOnce sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $9.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
MetadataCleaner ships an update every 3 months, ViewItOnce monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MetadataCleaner | ViewItOnce |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Steven Orley | Pawel Szydlowski |
In-app purchases
MetadataCleaner
- Metadata Cleaner Pro$0.99
ViewItOnce
- ViewItOnce Plus7 Days trial$9.991 Year









