---
title: "PicWay compression: levels and a before-and-after view"
description: "PicWay isn’t on the App Store yet. How its compression works: two levels, a same-frame before-and-after view, honest file sizes, and when the original stays."
url: "https://picway.app/details/compress/"
lang: "en"
type: "pages"
updated: "2026-11-05"
published: "2026-11-05"
keywords: "PicWay compression details"
---

# PicWay compression: levels and a before-and-after view

URL: https://picway.app/details/compress/
Markdown: https://picway.app/details/compress/index.md
Last updated: 2026-11-05

PicWay compression details covers how compression works in PicWay, the iPhone photo app that isn’t on the App Store yet: two levels named Standard and Strong, how Standard looks for the smallest size that holds up, how you compare before and after on the same frame, how file sizes are written, and when the original is kept.

PicWay is coming to the App Store soon; it isn’t there yet. This page collects details about how the current version of the app compresses videos and Live Photos: the levels, the comparison view, and what happens to your original. Each card says what it does and why it was built that way.

## What compression levels does PicWay offer? {#compress-levels}

### Video compression has two levels, Standard and Strong {#tiers-video}

**What it does.** Compressing a video offers two levels. Standard compression keeps the long side at no more than 1920 pixels, the long side of a 1080p frame. Strong compression goes down to no more than 1280 pixels, the long side of a 720p frame. The first time, one-tap compression uses Standard; after that, it follows the level you last chose in Set aside.

**Why it works this way.** Two plain names keep the choice easy to understand, and videos and Live Photos use the same two. Standard is the first default because a wrong first choice should cost little: Strong can bring a 4K video down to 720p, and once the original is deleted you can’t get it back. After you’ve changed the level yourself, PicWay goes with your preference.

### Live Photo compression: Standard, Strong, or keep just one frame {#tiers-live}

**What it does.** Compressing a Live Photo offers three choices. Standard lets PicWay look, photo by photo, for the smallest size where the difference is hard to see. Strong uses fixed, tighter settings: the still is capped at 2400 pixels on the long side, and the motion at 1440. “Keep one frame” drops the motion and keeps only the still. With Standard and Strong, you end up with a Live Photo that still moves. One-tap compression follows the level you last picked in Set aside; if you’ve never changed it, it’s Standard.

**Why it works this way.** Standard and Strong are the same two names as for video. The descriptions don’t say how much you’ll save, and the cards don’t show a percentage, so you judge for yourself, with the comparison view. “Keep one frame” is for when you only want a smaller still, and it runs through the existing queue, so Set aside, undo, deleting the original and background queuing all work as they do for everything else, with no second path for encoding or deleting.

### Standard compression tries several strengths and keeps the smallest one that passes {#standard-search}

**What it does.** For each Live Photo, Standard compression tries several strengths on the still and on the motion, and scores how closely each result matches the original’s brightness. For the motion it samples six frames, and both the average and the worst of those frames have to clear the bar. It keeps the smallest result that passes. If none passes, it uses the gentlest one it tried, and if every attempt comes out larger than the source, PicWay treats the photo as “can’t be compressed”. The motion is capped at 1920 pixels on the long side. The search starts from where the last photo on this phone ended up, so it doesn’t begin from scratch every time.

**Why it works this way.** Photos differ: some can lose a lot of data before anything is noticeable, others hardly any. A fixed setting treats them all the same, so Standard lets each photo find its own level. The aim is the smallest size where the difference is hard to see. A similarity score stands in for your eye, and the comparison view lets you check with your own.

## How do you check what compression did? {#compress-compare}

### Before and after, side by side on the same frame {#compare-slider}

**What it does.** When a video compression finishes, tap Compare. The two versions sit on top of each other and you drag a divider across the picture: the original on the left, the compressed version on the right, on the same frame. If the two versions have different lengths, as with slow motion, playing them together would drift out of step, so PicWay gives you a switch between the two versions instead of faking one frame.

**Why it works this way.** Judging by eye needs the same frame on both sides, so two players are stacked and the upper one is cropped at the divider. When the timelines can’t line up, a switch between the versions is more honest than a slider that would show two different moments.

### Comparing a compressed Live Photo: “Before & After”, and both sides move together {#compare-live}

**What it does.** For a compressed Live Photo, the comparison page is titled “Before & After”. The two sides are labelled Before and After, with their sizes underneath. The page has a line that says “Touch and hold to play both Live Photos”, and holding the picture plays both versions together. If the compressed Live Photo isn’t ready yet, the page says “Loading the compressed Live Photo”. The comparison for a “Keep one frame” result keeps the “Compare still” title, because that one really is a still copy.

**Why it works this way.** A compressed Live Photo is still a Live Photo, so calling one side a “still version” would be wrong. Holding the picture lets you watch the motion on both sides, which is how you would judge a Live Photo anyway.

### The video comparison goes full screen, and photos and videos both zoom up to 4× {#compare-zoom}

**What it does.** The video comparison has a full-screen mode. It uses the same pair of players, so the divider position, the playback position and the zoom all stay where they were, and the screen can turn sideways with the phone. When you leave full screen, it goes back to upright. Photos and videos share the same zoom range, from 1× to 4×.

**Why it works this way.** Zooming is how you look at fine detail, and two kinds of media with different limits would be confusing. If each had its own range, a photo could zoom to 4× while a video could be dragged off into black margins. One shared function sets the range for both.

### The slider comparison only decodes two videos while the page is open {#compare-power}

**What it does.** To compare on the same frame, the slider comparison page decodes two videos at the same time. That extra work exists only while the page is open: it pauses when the app goes to the background, everything is taken down when you leave, and it doesn’t loop. When playback ends, it goes back to paused.

**Why it works this way.** Two decoders running at once cost battery, so they are tied to the life of the page, and nothing keeps running after you have gone.

### File sizes are written honestly: only measured numbers go bare {#size-text}

**What it does.** Task cards and the comparison view read the same size data and write it with the same function. A measured size is shown as a plain number. Only when nothing has been measured does PicWay show an estimate, and it puts the qualifier right next to the number, as “About 120 MB”. If the size can’t be measured at all, it says “Size to be confirmed”, and never shows 0.

**Why it works this way.** Showing 0, or quietly putting an estimate where a measurement should be, would mislead you about what you’re about to keep or delete.

## When does PicWay keep the original, and how do you take a compression back? {#compress-keep}

### If compressing barely saves anything, both versions are kept {#keep-both}

**What it does.** After a compression, PicWay checks whether the result is worth replacing the original. A compressed video has to be at least 10% smaller. A compressed photo or Live Photo has to be at least 20% smaller and save at least 300 KB. If the result doesn’t clear that bar, the original is left alone and both versions stay. Photos, Live Photos and videos all go through this same check before an original can be deleted.

**Why it works this way.** A re-encode has a cost, so a small saving isn’t worth swapping the original for. A percentage alone would still allow a re-encode that saves only a few dozen kilobytes, which is why photos must pass both a percentage and a byte count. Videos have a bar of their own, 10%. Because the check lives in one place, the three kinds of media can’t drift apart.

### Undo a compression in one tap: the original stays, the compressed copy goes to Set aside {#put-back}

**What it does.** On a compression card, next to Compare there is a “Put back” button. Tapping it keeps the original: it leaves the compression group and stays in your library, and the compressed copy becomes an ordinary Set aside item that goes along with whatever you delete from Set aside. The card has no in-between states such as “keep both”, “keep only the original”, “confirming” or “confirmed”. If the original was itself in Set aside, putting back takes it out of there too.

**Why it works this way.** It is meant to be as simple as the Set aside button you already know: one tap, and the original is safe. Fewer states means less to read and less that can go wrong. And if the original had also been set aside, it would otherwise stay in the pile waiting to be deleted, which is why it is taken back with the undo.

## Keep reading {#more}

Back to [all PicWay details](https://picway.app/details/). Video sound, Live Photos and thumbnails are on their own page: [PicWay video details](https://picway.app/details/video/). If you want the steps rather than the reasons: [Do Live Photos take up space? How to compress Live Photos](https://picway.app/guides/compress-photos-iphone/) and [Compress iPhone video so the change is hard to see](https://picway.app/guides/compress-video-keep-quality/).