Brindo

Brindo Support

Choose your favourite photos. Make an album worth sharing.

Email help@getbrindo.com for help. Brindo is in beta; clear bug reports help us improve it. This is not a continuously staffed emergency service. In the app, Settings → Feedback opens that email for you, with your Brindo version, device and iOS version already filled in.

Common questions

Where can I learn how to use Brindo?
On your first launch, a brief animated logo leads into a few cards you swipe the way you review photos. They show comparing similar shots, choosing your own favourites, returning a pending removal to review before deletion, and a shared album that everyone adds their photos to. A privacy card explains that Brindo works on your device, with no account and no ads or tracking, and that shared photos are encrypted. Then choose where to start: your albums, or cleaning up your phone. You can skip the cards at any time. Open Settings → What Brindo is to see the cards again. Later, if you haven’t found a gesture yet, such as swiping a photo, double-tapping to zoom or Undo, a small hand shows it for a few seconds. You don’t have to follow it; once you use the gesture, it doesn’t come back.
What appears on Home?
Your first visit has one invitation to make an album. After that, an unfinished album takes priority with Continue. Otherwise, Home offers your monthly album near month-end, or your latest finished album, each with one photo or drawing. Below can appear friends’ new photos in your shared albums (tap to open the album, or Friends when there are several), new photos waiting in Swipe (or, before you first swipe, a way to start), your other albums in a row you can scroll sideways, and photos from this day in earlier years.
How does the monthly album work?
On the month's last two days and the next month's first two days, Home can invite you to make that month's album. For September, that's September 29 through October 2. It appears when you have Photos access, matching photos and no unfinished album, and haven’t already started that month’s album. This invitation shows the month's name and a drawing; your monthly photos appear when you start reviewing. Tap Make your September album (with that month's name) to start review with a name such as September 2026 🍂 already filled in. You choose what to keep; screenshots are included. With limited access, only your allowed photos are included. Starting early includes the photos available so far. Add later photos through Add photos. Once started, it uses Home’s normal Continue button. Once finished, it appears like any other album, with no separate monthly invitation. It stays saved after month-end, even if you rename it. If you allow notifications, Brindo sends a short reminder, such as Your September album 🍂, on the month’s last evening; if you stop opening the app, you get just that one. Tap the reminder to open that month’s album. To skip a month, touch and hold its reminder and choose Not this month; nothing leaves Photos. When you finish your first album, Brindo shows the reminder and asks once whether you want it; say yes and Apple asks whether to allow notifications. Turn reminders on or off in Settings → Notifications.
What is On this day?
With Photos access already allowed, Home can show photos taken on this date in earlier years. With limited access, it only uses the photos you allowed; hidden photos are excluded. If nothing matches, the section stays hidden. Tap it to see that day's photos, year by year; tap one to look at it full screen and swipe sideways through the rest. To make an album, tap Make an album and choose the photos you want. Nothing is selected or kept automatically, and Home never asks for Photos access just to show it.
How are my albums and folders organised?
Albums has two rows of covers: In progress first, then All albums, every finished album, including albums inside folders. Swipe a row sideways to see more, or tap See all to see them all at once. Your folders are behind the folder icon at the top right, with New folder at the end of the list. Tap a folder to open it; inside, unfinished albums come first. To put an album in a folder, tap its •••, then Add to folder. Deleting a folder keeps its albums.
How do I select a whole album or a range of photos?
When creating an album, choose Photos or Albums, then tap individual photos, sweep across a row, or select a range. There is no Select all button for a new album. Select a range lets you tap a first and last photo and includes everything between them; you can adjust individual photos before tapping Review. Tap the selected count to see your batch and tap a checked photo to leave it out; Done returns to the picker. Clear empties the selection. Choosing this batch does not keep or remove any photo yet. The album gets a name automatically, which you can change during review or on the finished album. Without Photos access, Brindo shows how to allow it in Settings. Limited access shows only allowed photos. If a selected photo becomes unavailable, Brindo keeps your selection so you can retry or go back and adjust it; it does not silently leave photos out.
How can I browse a large photo library faster?
Pinch the gallery to make thumbnails smaller or larger. You can also choose Larger thumbnails or Smaller thumbnails in the ••• menu. Drag the slim date control on the right to move through a long library. Your selection stays selected while you change the view.
Do gallery thumbnails need to download?
The gallery uses available local Photos thumbnails first and prepares nearby rows as you scroll. A small preview stays visible even if a sharper version cannot load. Larger thumbnails request more detail; an internet connection may be needed if Photos has only a small preview or no local image. The cloud button retries a missing thumbnail without selecting it. Thumbnail size does not change the quality of saved originals.
Can I skip screenshots while reviewing?
Yes. Open the ••• menu and choose Skip remaining screenshots. It excludes only screenshots you have not decided on yet. It does not delete them or mark them removed. Screenshots you already kept or removed stay as you chose. Restore brings skipped screenshots back, including after finishing an album.
What does the heart at the top of review show?
It opens Recap: Kept and Removed photo tabs. Tap a photo for a closer look or to change its choice. Back returns to the photo you were reviewing. When you reopen an album in progress, you return to its photo review, even if you left from Recap. Add photos is in the ••• menu.
How do similar photos work?
When several photos look alike, they arrive together: the photo is a little shorter, with a strip of the group underneath. Swipe or tap to keep or remove the photo on screen, as with any photo; it leaves the strip and the next one takes its place. Slide along or tap the strip to look at the others first. Moving along the strip makes no choices. This works the same in albums and in Swipe, which checks upcoming photos as you go; Brindo never chooses a favourite for you.
Can I keep or remove a whole group of similar photos at once?
Yes. Press and hold Remove (✕) or Keep (the heart) until it fills: every photo still in the strip is removed or kept, including ones you haven't looked at. So you can keep the best and then hold ✕ for the rest. A tap still decides only the photo on screen. Earlier choices stay as they were, and one Undo brings the whole group back.
Where does Swipe start, and can I start somewhere else?
Swipe carries on where you left off, from newer photos to older ones. After your oldest photo it continues from the newest one you haven't swiped. To start somewhere else, tap the photo once and tap its date: your photos open there, with a heart or ✕ on the ones you've already swiped. Tap any photo to start from it, or tap Start from the newest to go back to your newest photos you haven't swiped. Tap one you've already swiped to go through it and the older ones again; your earlier choices stay until you swipe them. Once you've swiped every photo, Go through again does the same. New photos wait until Swipe reaches them; New photos on Home shows them first, then Swipe goes back to where you were. Home keeps counting the new ones you haven't swiped yet.
Can I start an album from another date?
Yes, as in Swipe. While you review an album, tap the photo once and tap its date: the album's photos open, oldest first, with a heart or ✕ on the ones you've already chosen. Tap any photo to carry on from it. If you've already chosen that one, Brindo asks whether to go through those photos again: they come back from there to the newest, and each choice stays until you make a new one. After the newest photo, the album comes back for the ones you passed over, so it finishes only when every photo has a choice. Undo can't take back choices made before you started there. A shared album's own review works the same way, in the order its photos were taken.
Why does Swipe say there are no more allowed photos?
With limited Photos access, Swipe can only show photos you have allowed Brindo to access. Reaching the end does not mean you have reviewed your whole library. Use Photos access in Settings to change which photos are available. Your existing choices stay saved.
Does "Remove" delete my photo?
No. In an album, Remove means the photo does not belong in that album. It stays in Apple Photos. Removing it from an album does not send it to Swipe's bin.
Is my finished album in Apple Photos?
Yes. When you finish an album, it appears in Apple Photos with the same name and the photos you kept, cover first and in your order. They are the photos already in your library, not copies; a friend's photo joins once it has been saved there. Rename the album, keep or remove photos, or reorder them in Brindo, and the Photos album follows. Photos you add to it in Apple Photos stay. Nothing is ever deleted from Apple Photos. If you delete the album in Apple Photos, it comes back only when you finish the album again. Albums you finished before this update are there too.
How do albums and Swipe work together?
When you make a new album, photos you've already swiped come in with your choice: kept ones are kept and removed ones go to the album's Removed, where you can change your mind or delete them. A small heart or ✕ marks them while you choose. Only photos you haven't swiped need reviewing, and if you swiped them all, the album is finished straight away. Photos selected for an album are reviewed there, so Swipe skips them even before you make any choices. They stay out of Swipe after the album is finished. Screenshots you explicitly skip from album review remain available in Swipe. Assigning a photo to album review cancels any pending Swipe removal without making a Keep or Remove choice for you. If Swipe has no photos left because they are assigned to albums, it offers Open albums.
What happens if I delete a Brindo album?
Its photos become available in Swipe again, unless another Brindo album still includes them or you already made a separate Keep choice in Swipe. Old cancelled bin entries do not return. Deleting a Brindo album does not delete its originals from Apple Photos, and its album there stays.
How do I put a photo into an album while swiping?
Tap the albums icon above the photo, the stack of cards the Albums tab shows. A bar of circular album covers drops from the top; your photo stays in place. Tap the albums you want, then tap the photo below the bar to keep it in all of them. Tap outside both the bar and photo to close without saving. New album lets you name one, which is created when you tap the photo. Opening, cancelling, or tapping the photo with no albums selected makes no choice. It works in Swipe and while reviewing an album. From an album the photo moves: it leaves the album you are reviewing unless you tap that album too. From a shared album it is kept there as well. Nothing is deleted from Apple Photos, and Undo puts everything back.
Can I send a photo to a friend while swiping?
Yes. In Swipe, tap the photo once, then the share icon at the bottom left of the photo. The iOS share sheet opens with that photo, so you can send it with WhatsApp, Messages, AirDrop or any app you use. It is sent once, at full quality and as it looks in Photos, with your edits. If it needs retrieving from iCloud, the icon turns until it is ready; tap it again to stop. Sharing makes no choice: the photo is still waiting for Keep or Remove.
Where do removed photos go in Swipe?
Tap the bin and its count above the photo to open Removed at any time. Open a photo and tap Review again to send it back to Swipe and decide again, or touch and hold its thumbnail for the same action. To return several at once, tap Select, tap the photos (or Select all), then Review again. Delete asks for Apple's confirmation directly; cancelling leaves your photos in place. Your choices save automatically. Photos assigned to an album's review cannot be deleted through Swipe. To delete Removed photos from a finished album, use the bin on that album's own Removed tab. Deleted photos leave all album categories.
Can I delete removed photos after finishing an album?
Yes. Open the album's Removed tab and tap the bin beside Your photos to review the originals, then Delete from iPhone for Apple's confirmation. Cancelling leaves them untouched. Photos kept in any album, or kept or returned to review in Swipe, are protected. Review again returns a photo to that album's review; Select returns several at once. Album removals never fill Swipe's bin, and successful deletion removes the photos from every album's visible categories.
How do I zoom or see a photo’s details?
In Swipe and album review, double-tap or pinch the photo to zoom in place. Drag to look around; double-tap again to see the whole photo. While zoomed, dragging does not keep or remove it; the Keep and Remove buttons still work. In a similar group, the strip carries your zoom between photos. Tap the photo once to show its size, date and Edit, and in Swipe also Share. The size is everything the photo takes up, including a Live Photo's video: what removing it frees. Tap the size on the left for full details, or tap the photo again to hide these tools.
Can I crop or rotate a photo?
In Swipe or album review, tap the photo once, then Edit at its top right. Cropping works as in Apple Photos: drag or pinch the photo under the frame, or drag a corner; Square keeps it square. Drag the dial under the photo to straighten it by any angle, for a horizon that isn’t level; the photo zooms in just enough to fill the frame. You can also rotate 90° and flip. Done changes the photo in Apple Photos itself, without making a copy, and Apple Photos keeps the original: open Edit again and tap Revert, then Revert to Original, to remove every edit (Apple Photos' own Revert does the same). Your choices and albums stay as they were. Live Photos keep their motion and sound. Brindo can’t edit RAW, Portrait, spatial or animated photos; Apple Photos can. Edit opens straight away on the photo you see, and Done closes straight away: Brindo downloads the full-quality original from iCloud if needed and saves it in the background. If the photo changes in Apple Photos before that, Brindo tells you instead of overwriting the change.
What happens if I edit or delete a photo in Apple Photos?
For photos linked to Apple Photos, Brindo refreshes edits when the library changes or you return to the app. Deleted photos leave its album categories, including Removed. Restoring the same original in Photos brings back its previous choice. Reducing Photos access does not erase your choices. Edits also refresh photos in Swipe, the selection screen, comparisons and full-screen viewing. An offline album downloads the edited version by itself and deletes the old copy; a photo deleted from Photos loses its copy too.
Does deleting from Apple Photos free up space on my phone?
Often less than you would expect, and not straight away. With iCloud Photos set to optimise storage, most originals are not on your phone at all, so deleting them frees iCloud space rather than phone space. Deleted photos also sit in Recently Deleted for 30 days, and copies Brindo made for offline review stay until you remove them in Settings. After a successful deletion, Brindo shows Space saved for that batch when a size is available for every file. Otherwise, it shows just the photo count. The celebration also shows Total with Brindo, accumulated across Swipe and album deletions since the version that started counting. Earlier deletions cannot be added retrospectively. If any batch's size is unavailable, the overall total shows photos deleted instead of an incomplete space figure. If the saved history is unavailable or uncertain, only this batch is shown. Both Swipe and album cleanup celebrate successful deletion with a confetti burst, then a little confetti keeps falling until you tap Done; Reduce Motion shows a still result. Done lets you continue, and the screen points to Photos → Recently Deleted for recovery. These figures count deletion activity, even if photos are later recovered; they are based on photo file sizes, not a measurement of current free space. Brindo does not download originals just to obtain their sizes.
Will I lose my progress if I close the app?
No. Your choices save as you make them. Close the app whenever you like and pick up where you left off.
Why are some photos slow to appear?
Brindo uses the picture already available on your phone while a sharper version loads. You can Keep or Remove from that preview; a failed download does not block an otherwise visible photo. If Photos cannot supply any usable picture, you may need a connection. Brindo prepares upcoming photos while you review, including a small buffer on mobile data.
Can I review photos in airplane mode?
Yes, when Photos or Brindo already has a usable picture on your phone. It may be lower quality. Apple Photos can sometimes display a picture that iOS does not make available to other apps, so this cannot guarantee every photo. For reliable offline review, download an album beforehand from its menu or Settings → Offline albums. Editing, original sharing and Live motion may still need the original from iCloud.
What is Offline albums for?
Downloading an album to review it without internet. It keeps a copy of every photo in the album, those on your phone too, since iOS can move them back to iCloud at any time, and shows the space it needs first. Small browsing previews are managed automatically. If an import was interrupted or photos remain after deleting a shared album, Settings → Saved photos lets you review them or explicitly delete their unused Brindo files. These may be your only copies, so save them elsewhere before deleting.
Photos stay blank while Low Power Mode is on. What can I try?
Try turning Low Power Mode off in Settings → Battery, return to Brindo and retry the photo. Apple can pause iCloud Photos syncing to save battery. Check your connection and try opening the same photo in Apple Photos too. You do not need to turn off iCloud Photos or delete your album. Apple's guide to paused Photos syncing explains how to check its status.
Can I add more photos to an existing album?
Open Add photos from your album or its menu. It opens on your newest photos that aren’t in the album yet; the album’s own photos are dimmed. Pick any photos, including screenshots and older ones, by tapping, sweeping or selecting a range, then tap Add. There is no Select all button. Earlier choices and the cover stay saved; new photos start undecided. After reviewing them, use Share photos to send your updated selection. With limited Photos access, only allowed photos can be added. This action is for your personal albums; shared albums receive photos through their existing contribution flow.
Can I save the shared photos to Apple Photos?
A friend's photo you keep is saved to Apple Photos by itself once its full version has downloaded, once however many albums keep it. With Every photo in Album details, every photo that downloads is. Removing it later, Undo or deleting the album does not take it out of Apple Photos. Your own photos are already there.
How do I change an album’s cover?
Open the finished album and tap the small pencil at the bottom-right of the cover, or in Albums open the album’s ••• menu and tap Change cover. Choose a kept photo, preview it, then tap Use this cover. Cancel keeps the cover you had. To change it again, choose another kept photo through the same button. From the ••• menu, an album you are still reviewing also shows the photos still to review: choosing one of those keeps it, and the button says Keep and use as cover. Undo in that album’s review brings it back. On a finished album’s own page the cover moves through your kept photos in the album’s order, starting with the cover. To keep it still, tap the pencil, choose a photo and tap Use this cover; to make it move again, choose Slideshow, the first choice, and tap Use slideshow. Changing the cover leaves your photo order and other choices unchanged; the ↑↓ button beside Your photos changes the order separately: drag photos into place, or open Sort photos and choose Oldest first, Newest first or Shuffle, then Done. Swipe the sheet down without Done to discard changes. Photos without a capture date stay at the end when sorting by date. Brindo keeps a sharp local display copy of each album cover so it stays ready between visits. A cover stored only in iCloud needs to load once before that copy is ready.
Can I keep changing an album after finishing?
Yes. Add photos from the album’s top row, or browse Kept and Removed. A photo you tap opens to look at: swipe sideways through the rest or along the small photos at the bottom, swipe up for its details, and pull it down to close. To change its choice, tap Review again under it for the same Keep / Remove buttons and swipes as review. Undo at the top restores your last change. Removed photos stay outside your album; nothing is deleted from your phone by changing those choices. Share photos uses your current kept photos whenever you open it.
What if I haven’t kept any photos?
Your choices are saved, but an album needs at least one kept photo before you can finish and export it. Keep one you like, or close and come back later. Every photo in your review needs a Keep or Remove choice before finishing.
What happened to Unsure?
Review now has two choices: Keep and Remove. Photos you previously left Unsure return to review without being kept or removed for you. An album with those photos resumes review; its existing keepers and order stay as they were. In Swipe, those photos return to the deck unless they belong to an album, and stay protected from deletion until you explicitly remove them.
Can I share just some of my kept photos?
Tap Share photos, select the favourites you want to send, then tap Share. Select all shares the whole kept set. Your album and its choices stay unchanged. Photos are numbered in the order you select them; Select all appends the rest in album order. Each photo is sent once, at full quality and as it looks in Photos, with your edits; Live Photos are sent as still photos. The small previews are never used. On Wi-Fi, photos start getting ready as you select them, so sharing is quicker. If they need retrieving from iCloud, the Share button shows Downloading from iCloud and how many photos are ready. Cancel returns to your selection. The receiving app controls what it accepts and how it displays them.
Do album previews download my originals?
No. The album’s small pictures use a bounded cache of compressed previews or local Photos thumbnails. If neither is available, a photo symbol appears; open the photo to load it. iOS can clear cached previews to reclaim space. These previews never replace originals when saving or sharing.
How does sharing with friends work?
Open Friends and tap Create a shared album (once you have one, it is under the + beside the title), then tap Invite at the top of the album to send the link. Friends with Brindo open it in the app; anyone else can join in a web browser. Inside an album, + adds your photos and shows how many have been sent. Make my own album starts your private selection. Photos are encrypted on your phone, travel through our server and download to everyone’s phone on any connection, mobile data included. Album details shows who is there and what has downloaded, and Mute silences that album’s notifications for a while or always. The host can rename the album by tapping its name there, ask to approve photos first, remove people and end the album; anyone can report a photo or block someone. Album access ends 30 days after the last photo was added, no later than 90 days after the first. Empty albums end after 90 days; the host may end an album sooner. Save wanted originals before the displayed deadline. The Privacy Policy explains cleanup, backups and retention after access ends.
Can an admin change their mind about a rejected photo?
Yes. Open Album details → Not approved, open the photo, then choose Approve for everyone. In a browser, open Not approved from the album. Only admins and the person who added each photo can see it before approval. These photos stay until the shared album expires, unless explicitly removed. They do not join your personal selection or download automatically with Every photo. Photos deleted by older versions cannot be recovered this way; their owner can add them again.
How do I delete a shared album?
Open the album in Friends, tap ⓘ beside its name → Delete shared album and confirm. This removes the album from your phone, without deleting photos from Apple Photos, personal albums or friends’ phones. Friends’ photos already in Apple Photos stay there, and Brindo removes its own copy unless one of your albums uses it. Other downloaded photos stay under Settings → Saved photos; choose Review these photos to make a personal album. If you created the shared album, friends can keep using it until it ends; Album details → End for everyone ends it now. Friends keep photos they have already received.
Something crashed, or the app won't open.
Email me with your iPhone model, iOS version, and roughly what you were doing. If it was during an import, the number of photos helps a lot.

Report a problem or intimate image

You do not need an account, the app or membership of an album to report content. Email help@getbrindo.com. In an album, you can also use a photo or person’s ••• → Report. Reported photo previews are sent readable for review; blocking hides a person’s photos for you. A missing photo attachment does not cancel a notice that already reached us.

For a content notice, include:

Intimate images shared without consent

The depicted person, or someone authorized to act for them, can request removal of a real or digitally created/altered intimate image. Clearly identify the image and its location, explain that it was shared without the depicted person’s consent, give contact information, and include a physical or electronic signature (for example, your typed name) and authority to act if you are a representative. You do not need to find duplicates yourself.

Where the US TAKE IT DOWN Act applies, a valid request requires removal within 48 hours and reasonable efforts to identify and remove known identical copies within that period. We also address requests under other applicable laws. We acknowledge a request where contact information is available, assign a reference, and explain the outcome or any additional information needed. Follow up using that reference. Do not send additional sensitive images unless a lawful, secure method has been agreed.

Child safety and immediate danger

Never email suspected child abuse imagery, save it for us or forward it. Use the in-album child-risk report or describe the concern with non-secret identifiers. If someone is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services first.

Review, privacy and authority requests

If you disagree with a moderation decision, email its reference and why you believe it is wrong; a person will review it. For data rights, see the Privacy Policy. This address is also Edoardo Vaira’s electronic Digital Services Act contact for users and authorities, in English and Italian. Authorities should follow the request instructions. Do not send passwords, secret links or unnecessary private documents.

Reporting a problem

The most useful report says what you expected, what happened instead, and how many photos were involved. A screenshot of the error can help; hide private photos, names and secret links first. Ordinary troubleshooting should not require your photographs.