Apple Photos should be way better at duplicate detection (and other library cleanup features). Here’s how Apple describes their duplicate detection in the Photos app (and knowledge base article):

Duplicates are classified both as exact copies that may have different metadata, as well as photos that appear to be the same, but may have unique resolutions, file formats, or other slight differences.

The Duplicates tool is a permanent sidebar item on Mac (no clue where this lives on iPhone) but it doesn’t seem to detect “like-photos” which I would define as: I just took 10 very similar pictures of my kid at the playground and please please please phone help me choose the best 1 or 2 to keep in my library until the end of time (and throw away the rest).

Aside from the passive Duplicates tool, it would be great if Apple introduced a “daily cleanup” reminder with suggestions on the photos to clean up. After having a kid my spouse and I created a Shared Photo Library and now we have so many cute photos of our kid each day.

Like a garden, tending to a photo library is best done frequently! At the end of most days my wife culls the photos and deletes “like-photos”. I am terrible at this task as I worry about accidentally deleting “a good one”. It’d be fantastic if the Photos app would have a cleanup suggestion at the end of the day to identify “like-photos” and even zoom in on aspects that differ (ex. eyes open vs shut, smiling vs not) so you can quickly and confidently clean up. This could be a great ritual for people to recount the day, see pictures of your loved ones, and tidy up your library.

This feature would provide plenty of control to the user by leaving them in charge of which photos get discarded. Or you could ignore these suggestions entirely and keep your library as messy as the old shoe boxes of yore.