Released 2026-05-14 · Store name “照片整理：遺忘花園” · v1.1.1 · 150 MB · free · fully offline
Afterglow is card-style photo sorting. The photos you let go of become the moss, flowers and fireflies of a 3D abandoned amusement park. Runs 100% on device.
Why it was made#
My apps are mostly offline so that they do not compete for attention with big companies’ online services, which means their usage scenarios are mostly moments without a network, or when you would rather not use one. On one flight to Japan I noticed a Japanese woman in the row ahead, bored for the whole flight home, with nothing to do but sort her photo album. So sorting photos fits the usage scenario of most of my apps.
The trigger was a friend who wanted to sort his albums but did not trust apps from a certain country, and kept asking me to build one for him. That was a real need, so I did.
Who it is for#
People who want to sort their albums but cannot bring themselves to delete photos.
How it was done, and where it got stuck#
The approach is to surface the weights Apple’s own photo classification computes underneath, and use similar categories to help users delete. A deleted photo does not vanish; it becomes something in the garden, which makes letting go a little easier.
The 3D garden took a lot of time, because visuals, especially 3D, are hard to communicate to AI. It is hard to describe in words the exact angle and light you want.
Where it stands#
I would like the garden to have more items to choose from, plants, ornaments and buildings that users actually like, so they can watch the photos they deleted turn into a garden of their own taste.