Sift

Privacy policy

Last updated 6 November 2026

The short version

Sift works entirely on your iPhone. It has no server and no account, and it doesn't collect, upload or share your photos or anything about you. There are no adverts, analytics or tracking.

Your photos

Sift asks for access to your photo library so it can show you your photos and delete the ones you choose. It reads them on your phone and never copies them anywhere. You can give it access to all your photos or only some, and change that at any time in Settings.

Photos are only deleted when you confirm. They go to Recently Deleted in the Photos app, where you can recover them for 30 days.

Finding similar shots and picking the best one uses Apple's image analysis, which runs on your iPhone. No photo leaves the device to do it.

What Sift stores on your iPhone

  • Whether you chose to keep, bin or decide later on each photo, recorded against the Photos app's own reference for it.
  • Your stats: how many photos you've sorted and deleted, the space you've freed, the days you used Sift, and how many you sorted each day for your goal and streak.
  • Notes from looking for similar shots: how alike neighbouring photos are, and a quality score for each one in a group. No images are stored.

This is kept in Sift's own storage on your iPhone. Sift doesn't use iCloud. Your iPhone's backups may include it, as they do for other apps. Deleting Sift removes all of it, and doesn't touch your photos.

Apple services Sift relies on

  • iCloud Photos. If your iPhone stores smaller versions of your photos to save space, the Photos system downloads the full version from your iCloud when you view it. That's between your iPhone and Apple, under Apple's privacy policy.
  • Place names. When you open a photo's details, Sift asks Apple's location service to turn the photo's saved location into a place name. Only the coordinates are sent, not the photo.
  • TestFlight. If you're testing a beta, Apple may share crash reports and any feedback you choose to send with the developer.

What Sift never does

  • It doesn't upload, copy or share your photos.
  • It doesn't ask for an account, your email address or your contacts.
  • It doesn't use analytics, tracking or advertising, and doesn't sell or share data.
  • It doesn't track your location. It only reads the location already saved in a photo, when you open that photo's details.

Your rights

Because Sift keeps everything on your iPhone, the developer holds no personal data about you. You're always in control: reset your sorting progress from Stats, or delete the app to remove everything. Under UK data protection law you can contact the developer with any question about your data, or complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

Children

Sift isn't directed at children.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new date.

Contact

Sift is made by Chris Mounce in the United Kingdom. Questions about privacy go to hello@siftphotos.app.