Emptie vs Video Compress
Updated 25 October 2026 · By Dimitar Zurnov, who makes Emptie. Facts about Video Compress are from its App Store listing; we haven’t tested it.
Video Compress compresses videos you pick. Emptie scans your whole library, sorts it by how much each video would free, compresses a batch on your iPhone and replaces the originals with their dates, places, favorites and albums kept. Pick Video Compress to shrink a clip to share; pick Emptie to get storage back.
At a glance
| Emptie | Video Compress | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A video compressor that replaces originals in your Photos library | Video compressor: Compresses a video to a size you choose with a slider, locally and without internet. |
| Price | Free. Optional $2.99 one-time Founding Supporter purchase | Free download. The only listed in-app purchase is “Remove Ads” at $1.99. |
| A year of use | $0 | $0, or $1.99 once to remove ads |
| App Store privacy label | Data Not Collected (planned) | Data Used to Track You · Data Not Linked to You |
| Replaces the original for you | Yes, after a side-by-side review and one iOS confirmation | Not stated in the listing |
| Keeps date, location, favorites and albums | Yes, and checks each copy before deleting an original | Not stated in the listing |
| Sorted by space you would free | Yes | Not stated in the listing |
| Runs with the phone locked | Yes, with progress in the Dynamic Island | Not stated in the listing |
| Requires | iOS 26 or later (iPhone 11 and newer) | iOS 15.0 or later |
| US ratings | Not released yet | 4.47 from 11,543 ratings |
“Not stated in the listing” means we didn’t find it in the App Store description, not that the app can’t do it.
What Video Compress does well
- Very cheap: free, or $1.99 to remove ads
- Lets you aim for a target file size
- States that compression is local
Best for: One-off shrinking of a single video to a target size.
Where Emptie is different
- Emptie has no ads
- Emptie works through your whole library in one batch instead of one video at a time
- Emptie replaces the originals and keeps their dates, places, favorites and albums
- Emptie’s planned privacy label is “Data Not Collected”
What it costs over time
Video Compress: Free download. The only listed in-app purchase is “Remove Ads” at $1.99. Kept for a year: $0, or $1.99 once to remove ads.
Emptie is free. If it helps you, an optional one-time $2.99 Founding Supporter purchase supports the founder. Compressing a library is mostly a one-time job, so we don’t think it should cost you every week.
What happens to your original videos
This is where video apps differ most. Many save a smaller copy as a new item and leave you to find and delete the original yourself. Unless the app carries the details over, the copy can show up under today’s date and outside the albums the original was in.
Emptie keeps every original untouched until its compressed copy is saved to your library and checked: it plays, it’s the same length, and its date (with time zone), location, Favorite and Hidden status and albums arrived. You review each pair side by side, and one iOS confirmation replaces the batch. The originals stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Why the space comes back after you empty it.
Privacy
Video Compress’s App Store privacy label lists Data Used to Track You · Data Not Linked to You. Emptie’s will say Data Not Collected: no account, no upload, no ads and no analytics, and the app makes no network calls.
Which should you choose?
- Choose Video Compress: it’s best for one-off shrinking of a single video to a target size.
- Choose Emptie: if videos are what fill your iPhone, you want them smaller without losing their dates and albums, and you’d rather not pay a subscription.
Frequently asked questions
Is Emptie a Video Compress alternative?
Yes. Both compress video on the iPhone. Emptie works through your whole library in one batch and replaces the originals for you, keeping their dates, places, favorites and albums.
How much does Video Compress cost compared with Emptie?
Free download. The only listed in-app purchase is “Remove Ads” at $1.99. Emptie is free, with no subscription; an optional one-time $2.99 purchase supports the founder. Prices are from the US App Store listing as of 25 October 2026.
Does Video Compress collect data?
Its App Store privacy label lists: Data Used to Track You · Data Not Linked to You. Emptie’s planned label is “Data Not Collected”: it has no account, no analytics and makes no network calls.
How we compared
We read Video Compress - Shrink Videos’s US App Store listing, in-app purchase list and privacy label on 25 October 2026. It was one of the 888 storage and video-compression apps we reviewed on 23 October 2026. We didn’t install or test it. Prices change, so check the listing before you buy. If something here is wrong, email [email protected] and we’ll fix it.