I’m trying to put two photos side by side on my iPhone, but the methods I found online either don’t match my screen or don’t work. I need to combine pictures for a post and don’t want to download random apps if there’s an easier way. What actually works on iPhone?
Comparing photos on an iPhone still feels clunky. I ran into this while trying to pick one shot out of five near-identical pics, and the stock Photos app did not help much.
Why the built-in Photos app is bad at this
There is no true side-by-side view in Photos. You flip between one image and the next, then try to remember small details from the first one while staring at the second. I did this with a few portrait shots and it got old fast. Tiny focus differences, blinking, slight blur, weird lighting, all of it starts to blur together in your head. A lot of people keep both photos because they are unsure. Then your storage gets eaten alive, slow and dumb.
How I put two photos next to each other on iPhone with Shortcuts
If your goal is simple, like making a before-and-after image or sending somebody a direct visual comparison, Shortcuts works fine. No extra app needed.
Steps:
- Open the Shortcuts app.
- Hit the plus button to make a new shortcut.
- Add the ‘Select Photos’ action.
- Turn on ‘Select Multiple.’
- Add the ‘Combine Images’ action.
- Set it to horizontal.
- Add ‘Save to Photo Album.’
- Name the shortcut.
- Run it, pick two photos, and it saves one merged image into your library.
That gives you a new file with both pictures sitting side by side. Clean enough for sharing. I used it once for comparing an edited photo against the original. Worked.
What it does not fix is photo cleanup. If you have 30 shots of the same dog, kid, sunset, receipt, whatever, this method makes more files. It does not help you choose what stays.
What worked better for sorting similar shots
When I wanted to delete duplicates and near-duplicates, I stopped bothering with swipe-back-and-forth comparisons. I used Clever Cleaner instead.
The useful part is the Similars section. It scans your photo library and groups shots which look close enough to be the same moment. Stuff like:
- burst photos
- two angles of the same subject
- repeated shots with small exposure changes
- ten attempts to get one non-blurry frame
It marks one image as the best shot. In my library, it flagged sharper images pretty well. It also seemed decent at avoiding frames with closed eyes or obvious blur. I still checked the groups myself, but I was not doing all the work from scratch.
How I used it
- Open Clever Cleaner.
- Go to the Similars tab.
- Let it scan the library.
- Open each group and look at the suggested best shot, marked in green.
- Change the pick if you want.
- Confirm deletion for the rest.
- Empty the app trash later, after you are sure.
I liked one small thing here. Deleted files are not wiped right away. They go into the app’s own trash first, so if you tap too fast, you still get a second shot at fixing it.
Other parts I ended up using too
The Heavies tab is blunt, in a good way. It sorts files by size, biggest first. If a few 4K videos are wrecking your storage, they show up right away.
The Screenshots tab is also better than I expected. It shows the file sizes before you delete anything, which saved me time when I was clearing out years of random screenshots.
There is also a swipe mode with monthly groups. Left to delete, right to keep. I thought it would feel gimmicky, but for a huge backlog it was easier on my brain than staring at the entire library in one wall of thumbnails.
One thing I did care about
Everything stays on the device. Nothing gets sent off to some remote server. For photo libraries, I pay attention to that.
What ended up being the practical setup
For making one combined comparison image, I used Shortcuts.
For picking the best photo out of a pile of lookalikes and clearing space, I used Clever Cleaner.
That combo covered both jobs. After one scan, I cleared way more space than I expected. On a photo library which had never been cleaned, getting back around 10 to 15GB did not seem unusual. I saw the same ballpark on mine.
2 Likes
If your goal is to make one image with two photos side by side for a post, the easiest built-in option on iPhone is usually Layout from Instagram. You do not need to post to Instagram. Open Instagram story, tap the Layout option, pick your two photos, save it, done. Fewer steps than Shortcuts, and for a lot of people it feels less glitchy.
I disagree a bit with @mikeappsreviewer on one point. Shortcuts works, but if your iPhone menus do not match the guide you found, Shortcuts is where people get lost fast. Apple moves stuff around and the action names confuse pepole.
Other no-random-app options:
-
Pages or Keynote
Drop in two photos.
Resize them side by side.
Take a screenshot or export.
Clunky, but it works on every iPhone I tried. -
Canva
Not random, widely used.
Open a blank post size.
Add both photos.
Save.
Best pick if you care about spacing and text.
If your bigger issue is sorting through a pile of near-duplicates before combining them, Clever Cleaner makes more sense. It is a cleaner photo comparison and cleanup app for iPhone, good for finding similar shots fast. This review covers it well, see how Clever Cleaner handles similar photos on iPhone.
So, short version:
For one quick side-by-side image, use Instagram Layout or Canva.
For cleaning up similar pics first, use Clever Cleaner.
Thats the combo I would use.
Honestly, I would skip Shortcuts unless you already use it a lot. @mikeappsreviewer is right that it can work, but for a lot of people it turns into ‘why does my screen not look like the tutorial’ in about 30 seconds. @caminantenocturno had the better practical take there.
What actually works without downloading some shady collage app:
- Instagram Story Layout, then save the result
- Google Photos collage if you already use Google Photos
- PicCollage or Canva if you want cleaner control
One method nobody mentions enough is Google Photos. If it’s already on your phone, open it, select 2 pics, tap Add to, then Collage. Super easy. Sometimes it auto-spaces them better than Apple’s own stuff tbh.
If your real problem is also choosing which two photos are even worth combining, that’s where Clever Cleaner helps more than the built-in Photos app. It’s good for finding similar photos on iPhone, especially if you have 9 versions of the same pic and no idea which one is sharper. I woudln’t use it to make the collage itself, but I would use it first so you don’t end up combining the wrong shots.
Also, if you want more native-workaround ideas, this Apple Community thread about putting two photos side by side on iPhone is one of the few useful discussions that matches what people actually see on screen.
So yeah, my vote:
- Use Instagram Layout or Google Photos collage
- Use Canva if you care about design
- Use Clever Cleaner first if your library is a mess
Apple somehow made this way harder than it should be lol.
One built-in trick nobody has mentioned enough is Freeform.
If your iPhone has Freeform, make a blank board, insert both photos, drag them side by side, then take a screenshot or export the board. It is less confusing than Shortcuts for a lot of people because you can literally see the two images and move them with your fingers. I actually disagree a little with @mikeappsreviewer here. Shortcuts is neat when it works, but for a fast social post, visual apps beat automation.
What I’d use depending on the goal:
- Fastest no-shady-app method: Freeform
- Need exact spacing/background: Canva
- Already using Instagram or Google Photos: those are fine too, as @caminantenocturno and @nachtdromer said
- Need to pick the best two shots first: Clever Cleaner
Clever Cleaner pros
- good at grouping similar photos
- helps find duplicates before you make a collage
- can free up storage fast
- simple enough for messy libraries
Clever Cleaner cons
- not really the tool for designing the final side-by-side image
- you still need to double-check what it suggests deleting
- if your goal is only combining 2 photos, it is extra steps
So for your exact problem, I would try Freeform first. If that option is missing or annoying, then use one of the methods the others listed. Apple Photos itself still weirdly does not make this easy.