Switching to a new iPhone should not mean deciding which photos to keep all over again. The same is true after reinstalling a cleanup app: if you have already reviewed hundreds of photos, losing every keep and to-delete mark turns a useful cleanup session into repeated work.
Doggy Cleaner 1.26.0 adds iCloud sync for your photo cleanup progress. Supported keep and to-delete marks, along with cleanup history, are backed up automatically and can be restored after you switch devices or reinstall the app.
What photo cleanup progress is synced?
The update preserves the decisions and totals that help you continue a cleanup session:
- Photos you marked to keep
- Photos you marked for deletion but have not yet removed
- Cleanup history, including the number of items cleaned and storage totals
These records are associated with photos through identifiers provided by the iOS photo library. When the same photos are available on another device, Doggy Cleaner can reconnect the synced decisions to the corresponding items instead of making you review them from the beginning.
This is especially useful when you clean a large library over several days. You can stop after one group, move to a replacement iPhone, and continue from decisions that have already been synced rather than rebuilding the list manually.
How restoration works after switching iPhones
For the best chance of a complete restore, set up the new iPhone with the same Apple Account and allow the system photo library to finish syncing. Install or open Doggy Cleaner, then grant it access to the photos you want to review.
Once photo access is available, version 1.26.0 checks the private iCloud data associated with your account and matches saved marks to photos in the current library. It also checks again when the app returns to the foreground, so a temporary iCloud connection problem does not permanently end the restore attempt.
The exact timing depends on iCloud and the system photo library. If your photos are still downloading or iCloud is temporarily unavailable, the marks may not appear immediately. Let the Photos app finish updating, confirm that the correct Apple Account is active, and reopen Doggy Cleaner.
Reinstalling no longer has to reset your decisions
Before this update, local cleanup marks lived with the app installation. Removing and reinstalling the app could therefore leave you with a photo library but none of the decisions you had already made.
With version 1.26.0, synced marks can return after reinstalling. Doggy Cleaner first reads the local state, then reconciles it with your private iCloud records. If the same photo has a newer decision, the more recently updated mark is kept. This helps prevent an older device from replacing a newer choice simply because both devices reconnect at different times.
Restoration still requires the relevant photo to be present and identifiable in the system library. A mark cannot be attached to a photo that is not available on the new device. If you use iCloud Photos, wait for the library to finish syncing before deciding that a mark is missing.
Are photos uploaded to Doggy Cleaner servers?
No. The new sync feature does not change how Doggy Cleaner analyzes your media.
Duplicate detection, similar-photo grouping, video review, and cleanup suggestions still run on your device. Version 1.26.0 syncs small pieces of cleanup metadata—such as a keep or to-delete decision and cleanup totals—through the private iCloud data belonging to your Apple Account. It does not upload the photo or video file to a Doggy Cleaner server for analysis.
You also stay in control of deletion. A to-delete mark is a review decision, not an immediate permanent deletion. You confirm the selected items before the app asks iOS to remove them. For more detail about local processing and deletion control, read Is a photo cleaner app safe?.
A practical workflow before changing devices
Cloud sync reduces repeated work, but a careful device move is still worth a few checks:
1. Open Doggy Cleaner on the old iPhone while iCloud is available.
1. Let the Photos library finish syncing before you erase or trade in the device.
1. Set up the new iPhone with the same Apple Account.
1. Wait for the relevant photos to appear in the system Photos app.
1. Open Doggy Cleaner and grant photo access so the app can match your saved marks.
If you are still deciding what to review first, the guide to cleaning up iPhone photos without losing your place explains a focused order for duplicates, similar photos, videos, and screenshots.
The other improvement in version 1.26.0
This release also fixes a case where the video mute icon could fall out of sync with the actual sound state while swiping between views. The button now follows the shared mute setting more reliably, so what you see better matches what you hear.
Version 1.26.0 is mainly about continuity: your cleanup decisions should travel with you, while your photos remain under the control of iOS and your Apple Account. Get Doggy Cleaner to continue organizing your library without starting from zero after every device change.