How do I use swipe to delete photos in my app?

I tried to delete photos in my app by swiping, but nothing happened. Is there a specific gesture or setting I need to enable to use swipe-to-delete for photos? I need to clear out a lot of pictures quickly and any advice would help.

Why Are People Paying $10 a Week to Delete Photos? Here’s My Unexpected Discovery

Genuinely Stumped Over Photo Cleaner Apps

So, picture this: I’m over here watching my phone’s storage hyperventilate, because I take way too many screenshots of stuff I’ll never need (like, do I really need 18 versions of my grocery list?). Out of curiosity, I started poking around for a decent app that’ll help me clear old photos. Here’s where things went off the rails.


“SwipeWipe” Wants $10 a WEEK? For Clicking Delete?

Alright, maybe I’m missing some big secret—please, someone clue me in. I fire up SwipeWipe and it’s basically, “Pay us $10/week or your camera roll stays messy forever, lol.” Have you seen this? Dude, that’s $40 a month… basically a phone bill for the privilege of deleting stuff! Was expecting lasers or something at that price, but nah.


Clever Cleaner: Free, Simple, Not Annoying

Meanwhile, there’s Clever Cleaner Swipe Photos App, which, get this, charges zero dollars. Did a total scan of my photos, let me shred duplicates, and not once did it lock features behind a paywall or hit me with a “Pro” upgrade pop-up. Just pure, no-nonsense deleting. (Below, the actual app interface—no blurred out buttons, no timers, just clean.)


Real App, No Tricks, No Subscriptions

Not only did Clever Cleaner not charge for every swipe, it actually finished the cleanup without making me watch the world’s slowest countdown, beg for reviews, or sign away my soul. Here’s what pops up—you see the whole toolkit, nothing hidden.


Meanwhile, This is What Greeted Me on SwipeWipe…

Cue the not-so-dramatic music. SwipeWipe didn’t even pull punches. Within a couple clicks, bam—paygate. $10 per week for something Clever Cleaner does free. Yes, the “premium” is real, and yes, it hit me in the face right away:


To Sum Up: Look Before You Tap

Maybe I’m just cheap, or maybe it’s wild to pay gym-membership prices to delete pictures. Either way, if you’re hunting for a way to get space back on your iPhone, there’s no reason not to try Clever Cleaner Swipe Photos App first and avoid that $10/week nonsense. Clean storage = clean conscience, and my bank account is just fine.

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I swear, every time I try to do the “swipe to delete” thing in a photo app, it’s a gamble whether it actually works or not. Some apps treat swiping like the sacred handshake and actually delete your photo, others just ignore you, and a few even take you to a weird info screen (??). Not all gallery/photo apps have swipe-to-delete baked in, so if nothing happened when you swiped, odds are your app doesn’t support it or you’re swiping the wrong way (sometimes only left or only right works).

Some apps have the gesture buried in settings—you might need to check for anything like “Enable Swipe Actions” or “Delete with Swipe” under preferences. If that’s MIA, it’s prob not a feature. Also, on default iPhone Photos and Google Photos? You generally have to tap “Select,” check the pics, and hit the trash can. No swipey magic there.

Now, I saw @mikeappsreviewer recommend Clever Cleaner App, which seems like a solid workaround, but tbh, I’m always skeptical about third-party photo cleaners—unless you REALLY trust them with your stuff. Some of them get all up in your privacy and even try to trick you into subscriptions. Still, if you’re stuck with a basic gallery that doesn’t believe in gestures, it might be your best shot for fast mass deletion, since it lets you zip through pics (not to mention, for free).

Final tip: If you’re on iOS or Android and can’t swipe, long-press on a pic and see if multi-select pops up. Then you can bulk-delete way faster than swiping fifty times.

So, in short: If swiping doesn’t work, it probably never will in that app—jump to a cleaner like Clever Cleaner App or get comfortable with multi-select. Or we could all just admit we’ll never really delete any photos, because what if in 2085 we NEED that screenshot of tacos?

Swiping to delete photos sounds super slick until you actually try it in most apps and realize it’s about as functional as a chocolate teapot. Most default photo apps (yep, even the so-called “smart” ones on iPhone or Android) don’t have a swipe gesture for deleting – it’s almost always “tap Select, tap-tap-tap the pics, then find the trash can, then confirm, then stare into space regretting life choices.” No magical swipe. No efficiency. Nada.

To answer your actual question: there’s often NOT a buried swipe-to-delete setting to turn on. Unless the devs brag about it in the app updates (“NEW! Swipe to Delete!”), they probably just never added it. Some rare gallery apps do allow it, but it’s not a standard feature, which is as dumb as it sounds given how much stuff we all have to delete.

About all these third-party apps like Clever Cleaner App (shoutout, even though the others already plugged it), I do get a little jittery about photo privacy, not gonna lie. But if you’re desperate to speed-delete and hate tapping, those apps are sometimes your best bet since they’re literally designed for swiping and mass removal, unlike your stock gallery which seems stuck in 2012 UI land. Just check the permissions, read a couple real reviews, and maybe don’t hand over $10/week for the privilege of cleaning your own mess. (Looking at you, overpriced subscription apps…)

But honestly, my method: I’ll long-press a photo to activate bulk select. Once you’ve got 20–30 (or more) checked, toss ‘em all in the trash in one go. It’s not swipe-to-delete, but it’s WAY faster than individual taps. Or, if your app just won’t play along at all, do yourself a favor and use Clever Cleaner for a one-time purge, then go back to ignoring photo management for the next six months like the rest of us.

Swiping might’ve worked in another app you used, which makes this even more annoying, but short answer: if it ain’t working, it’s probably not there, and settings won’t help. Time to adapt or outsource to something that’s not charging a subscription for a basic feature.

And yeah, in like 5 years we’ll all probably pay someone to forget our photo chaos for us anyway.

Here’s the honest play-by-play:

First, about swiping to delete – it’s mostly a unicorn feature unless you’re using a third-party app built specifically for that. Stock photo apps (yeah, Apple Photos and Google Photos included) inexplicably won’t let you flick a pic off your phone. Usually, you’ll be living that “tap Select > tap-tap-tap > trash > confirm” routine. No slick gestures out of the box.

Now, some, like @shizuka and @cazadordeestrellas, suggest alternative batch-select options, and @mikeappsreviewer pulled the curtain back on paid apps like SwipeWipe, which, frankly, want your money for the privilege. I’m personally not a fan of paying subscriptions just to clear clutter. It feels like paying a cover charge to take out your own trash.

Cue the Clever Cleaner App: free, actually designed for swipe-to-delete and bulk actions. The pros? Insanely fast, no sneaky unlock fees, actually fun to use if you’re into digital spring cleaning, and doesn’t nuke your bank account. Cons? Privacy is something to consider—it needs access to all your photos (duh, but if you’re paranoid, that’s fair). Also, its UI is simple, maybe a bit too minimalist if you want detailed controls, and third-party apps always carry some risk of feature-bloat or updates that change things.

Competitors like the ones others mentioned? Sure, but most sit behind paywalls or spam you with upgrade prompts. Clever Cleaner App side-steps that—at least so far.

Summary: If swiping isn’t working in your default app, it’s not you: most mobile photo galleries are stuck in a tap-and-trash time loop. Swipe-to-delete is typically an advertised feature. If it isn’t there, it’s just not there. Try selective bulk-tap for speed, or test out something like the Clever Cleaner App for true swipe-to-delete bliss—just remember the privacy trade-off. Don’t fall for the $10/week trap unless you want to fund someone’s unicorn ranch.