Lean: Video Compressor

Support

Questions, bugs and feature requests for Lean go to cihatsalik1@gmail.com. Lean is made by one person, so a clear description — your device, the video's resolution and length, the preset you used and a screenshot — gets a fix out fastest.

Email support

Does Lean upload my videos anywhere?

No, and it cannot. Lean contains no networking code at all — no HTTP client, no socket, no SDK that opens a connection — so there is no path by which a video, a frame, a thumbnail or a statistic could leave your iPhone. There is no account, no analytics, no crash reporter and no third-party service of any kind. The encoder runs on your device's own media hardware and writes the result straight back into your Photos library. The only network traffic around Lean is Apple's: the App Store updating it, StoreKit checking your purchase, and iOS fetching a video you picked that lives only in your own iCloud Photos.

Will the compressed video look worse?

At the default "Visually identical" preset, you should not be able to tell on a phone or tablet screen — that is what the before/after split slider is for, and it is shown before anything is written. "Balanced" and "Smallest" trade visible quality for more space and say so. Compression is lossy in every case: the smaller file is a re-encode, not the original data. If you want the original bytes kept, turn on "Keep original too".

What happens to the original?

The compressed copy takes the original's place in your library — same creation date, same location, same favorite status, back into every album the original was in — and the original is then deleted through Apple's own Photos flow, which iOS confirms with you. It goes to Recently Deleted and stays restorable there for 30 days. "Keep original too" skips the deletion entirely, and declining the system prompt keeps everything.

Why are my albums not preserved?

Album membership can only be read and rewritten with full Photos access. Under Limited access Lean works on the subset of videos you selected, but iOS does not let it see which albums they belong to. Change it in Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos › Lean.

Why is a video marked "Already optimized" or skipped?

"Already optimized" means the estimate came out under a 10% saving, so there is nothing worth doing — and Lean also discards its own output after the fact if it did not reach 10% smaller. Cinematic, ProRes and spatial (MV-HEVC) recordings are skipped on purpose: they cannot be re-encoded without losing what makes them what they are. Slo-mo and timelapse are detected from their Photos subtype and left alone.

Can I leave the app while a batch runs?

Yes. A batch continues as a background processing task, with progress on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, and a resume if it is interrupted. iOS decides how much background time it grants, so a very large batch may pause and pick up when you return. Keep the device plugged in for a long run.

What is free, and what does Lean Pro open?

The scan, the estimates, the before/after comparison and the first 3 compressions are free, so you can check the quality on your own videos before paying. Lean Pro unlocks unlimited compression, background batches and "Compress & Share" at any size. It is offered weekly with a 3-day free trial, annually, or as one lifetime payment.

How do I report a bug in Lean?

Email cihatsalik1@gmail.com with your device model, iOS or macOS version, the app version shown in Settings, and the steps that produce the problem. A screenshot or screen recording makes it far quicker to fix.

How do I restore a purchase?

Purchases are tied to the Apple ID that made them. Sign in with that Apple ID, open the purchase screen in the app and use Restore. If the restore does not complete, email cihatsalik1@gmail.com with the date of purchase.

How do I request a refund?

Refunds are issued by Apple, not by the developer. Use Apple's "Report a Problem" page at reportaproblem.apple.com, or the refund flow in the App Store.

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