May 26, 2026 · Pebble Studio
The iCloud-aware badge
The most expensive mistake in a photo cleaner is silent: you delete what you thought was a backed-up duplicate, the iCloud copy was never actually synced, and the original file is gone. There is no UI to undo it; the system Recently Deleted folder is not a substitute when your only copy is the one you just removed.
Pebble’s answer is a small badge in the corner of every duplicate or large file card. Three states, no jargon:
- Backed up. PhotoKit confirmed the asset is fully resident in iCloud. Deletion is reversible from any signed-in device.
- Downloading. iCloud knows about it but the binary is not finished syncing. We hold off on the delete prompt until the badge clears.
- Not backed up. The copy on your phone is the only copy. The confirmation dialog changes wording to reflect this. We do not block the delete — we make it impossible to do it without seeing.
This is one of the things we mean by “honest.” We do not invent a number to make you tap fast. We surface the one piece of information that turns a regrettable tap into an informed one.
The underlying API is PHAssetResource.checkLocalAvailability(), with a 200ms
debounce and a 24-hour cache. The badge is 18×18 points. It does not feel
big. It is.
— Pebble Studio