In one sentence
LemonClear is a photo-cleaning tool. It does something simple: it helps you look through, sort and delete the photos on your own phone. Your photos stay on your device from start to finish. We don't look at them, don't store them, and don't upload them.
What we collect
Almost nothing.
- No account required. We don't collect your name, email or phone number.
- We don't collect the contents of your photos, and we don't make copies of them to send anywhere.
- We don't track what you do outside the app.
How your photos are handled
To help you clear them, LemonClear needs access to your Photos library. Once you grant it:
- All reading, grouping and thumbnail generation happens on your device (the only two exceptions are below, under "About the network");
- when you confirm a deletion, the deletion itself is carried out by the system Photos app, and the app keeps no copy of anything;
- deleted photos go to the system's Recently Deleted album and can be restored for 30 days — which is how "mistakes are recoverable" actually works.
About the network: two exceptions
LemonClear has no server of its own — there is nothing for us to receive or store. But the app itself does reach the network in two places, and we'd rather name them than gloss over it:
- Naming a place. Once a batch of photos has been grouped by location, that group needs a name. On iOS 26 and later, the app first sends that group's coordinates to Apple's map service in exchange for a place name — coordinates only; the photo itself never leaves your phone. If Apple returns nothing, or if you're on an earlier version of iOS, the name is worked out instead from an offline city database bundled inside the app (about 33,000 cities, data from GeoNames, CC BY 4.0), and that path uses no network at all.
- Photos that live only in iCloud. If a photo's full-size original has been offloaded from your device, the app will not download it on its own — it would rather show you the smaller copy already on the phone. Only when you tap Download on that specific photo does it fetch that one from iCloud.
Payment and in-app purchase
The one-time unlock inside the app is handled by the Apple App Store. We never see or store your card number or any payment credentials; payment information is handled by Apple under its agreement with you.
Analytics and crash data
If you have enabled "Share Analytics" or "Share Crash Data" in your system settings, Apple may provide us with anonymous, aggregated statistics (for example whether a feature was used, or whether a crash occurred). This information does not identify you, and is used only to improve the product.
Children
LemonClear is not designed for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If you are a parent or guardian and believe otherwise, please contact us using the address below.
Your rights
Because we don't store your personal data, there is nothing to "export" or "delete from our servers" — you retain complete control of your own photos at all times. If you have any question about privacy, please get in touch.
Contact
For privacy questions, write to us directly: leeon.zhu@gmail.com. You can also visit the support page for other common questions.
If this policy changes, we will update this page and the "last updated" date above.