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Help, my iPhone is telling me I'm out of space...I'm most certainly NOT


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Help, my iPhone is telling me I'm out of space...I'm most certainly NOT
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2022-05-21, 18:40

Running the latest iOS 15.5, and have been since its release.

I've got 16GB, but that's not the issue because it always hovers around 14-14.5. If/when it ever gets over 15GB, I offload any pics/videos, clear my Safari and YouTube caches, delete any downloaded podcasts, etc. and BOOM...I'm back down to ~14GB.

Today, as of about 25 minutes ago, I get an alert telling me my iPhone is out of storage. When I check the storage situation in iPhone Settings (Settings > General > iPhone Storage) it's showing 15.9GB out of 16 used, I've got a badged "alert" in my settings, etc. The whole nine yards, none of which I've ever received.

Thing is, I know I don't have 15.9GB because I had around 14.2GB this time yesterday, and, in that time, I've taken no new pics/video, I've deleted any recent texts that had any, I've not downloaded any podcasts since earlier in the week (and they're gone), I've not installed any new apps.

Specially, when I check my iPhone Storage settings above, it's showing Photos as using 562.1MB...thing is, I have no photos/video on my phone, in the Photos app. So it's obviously some sort of "reporting" bug/error. I don't have to have zero showing, but even when I've got 5-10 photos on my phone, it doesn't show them as taking up 500MB+. In fact, Photos has never been at the top of the usage list. It's always Safari, Podcasts and a few others...and it's never 500MB or more.

So, again, obviously some sort of bug/fluke that just randomly hit about 30 minutes ago.

What I can't find is some sort of emergency, face-slapping "photo date purge" button in Settings.

I'd like to avoid the full-tilt factor reset and all, so does anyone have anything easy/simple to try and force my phone to report the usage as accurate? I don't have 15.9GB of usage...there's nothing on it, in the app it's pointing to (Photos), to explain why it's showing 562.1MB.

I've done 2-3 restarts, and I've done 2-3 soft restarts (holding down home button and on/off button until the white screen with the Apple logo appears). Usually I do this after all my cache/pic clearing once a month or so and it seems to reset/clear some stuff out and I'm back down around ~14GB again

SHORT VERSION: Why is my iPhone Photos app showing it's taking up 560MB+ of space when I know damn well it isn't, and it's making my iPhone show that it's using 15.9GB of its 16GB capacity, when I know damn well it isn't. How do I zap/clear out that (false) showing of 550MB+ Photos usage? Doing that fixes the biggest part of all this, I'm sure.



Is there not, in the iPhone settings or even the Mac (with the iPhone connected), some big master "cache/crud clearer" button or command I can do to get this thing back down to the ~14GB I know it's using?
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Mac+
9" monochrome
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: 🇦🇺
 
2022-05-22, 01:10

Paul, do you rely on iCloud for photo storage?

If so, there’s a setting in Photos that allows you to optimise photo storage on your iPhone.

Maybe after an update that setting was toggled off and is causing this abnormal reporting? I know you don’t have any photos on your phone - but maybe there’s something connected to this setting.

All I want is a simple life
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2022-05-22, 03:50

Hey there.

I don’t use iCloud for any photo-based stuff. It’s turned off, all three options. I thought that might’ve been it, but I looked.

One of my reboots must’ve worked because, at 4:43am, everything’s showing like it should now, at 13.9GG.

I’ve done nothing in the way of deletion Ms, etc. since my original post above. Just seemed to be super m weird, random gremlin that made my phone think it had over 500MB of photos when it should’ve been reporting zero.

One of those out-of-nowhere, no-rhyme-or-reason snags/glitches that make no sense, is impossible to diagnose or explain and that seems to right itself while I’ve been sleeping the past several hours.

The “phone storage is full” badged alert is gone and I’m now hovering at my usual ~14GB.

Thanks for the input/help. I finally went to sleep, with plans to throw the phone against a wall come morning. Now I don’t have too.
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2022-05-23, 07:32

I cannot image only having a 16GB phone!

Weren't you going to upgrade?
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2022-05-23, 07:57

I will/am. I haven’t yet, so the above was an issue. I just hate spending money on stuff I don’t consider 100% crucial/necessary.

An iPhone, for me, simply doesn’t qualify.

But, yeah…I’ll have the new SE soon enough. One day I’ll wake up and be like “okay, today’s a good day to do this…the current one is no longer working like it's supposed to, and is more of a hassle/aggravation than not.”

Had the above issue not straightened itself out, I might’ve been doing so today. I often have to have my hand forced, and the “have to” override the “want to”.

Clarification: I love my iPhone, and I wouldn't want to be without one for more than a couple of days. When I say I don't consider it 100% crucial/necessary, I mean that more from the sense of "I don't need to replace one that's still working fine, despite its age" (it runs the very latest version of iOS, which is pretty nice; I figure we'll get a preview of iOS 16 at WWDC in a couple of weeks, and I'm 99% sure this first-generation SE won't be supported when iOS 16 releases. That'll be a spur as well, between now and then, to upgrade. For some reason, running a generation or three behind on the Mac doesn't bother me like it would an iPhone (because the iPhone is with me/goes with me everywhere, so I kinda want that to be as good, capable and "modern" as it can be. I've never run behind on iOS, and I wouldn't start now. Knowing this first-gen SE is likely in its final months of being able to run the current system, that definitely factors in and will push me too.

I just hate paying for something new when the current thing is still working. I think I got that from my grandpa. I call it "frugal and practical". The world calls it "being a cheapskate". *shrug* Tomato, tomahto...

But if this phone were to bite the dust today/this week, I'd be heading out to buy a replacement (new, third-generation SE) that evening or the next day, absolutely. Still don't know what color I'd get, but I can flip a coin at the store if needed. The one thing I'd probably do this go around is get a case of some sort. I hate the thought, but I'm just getting too klutzy and butterfingered these past couple of years. I think the era of me and "naked" iPhones is coming to an end...I should better protect a $429 purchase.

Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2022-05-23 at 11:32.
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2022-05-23, 08:19

That is fair. I can be very frugal myself.

I regularly ask a return question when my family asks me to buy something; it is a need or a want?

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2022-05-23, 22:01

That's a bunch of guff.
16 gigglebites is *not* enough gigglebites.
Don't even *try* to tell me different!!!

...
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2022-05-24, 06:09

I indeed hover around ~14GB with no real effort/hassle.

I will certainly appreciate a roomier 64GB, but the 16GB is no daily struggle at all. It’s just what you’re used to/how you use it.

My iPhone life/usage, no surprise, mirrors my real life…minimalist, zero clutter/“stuff”, everything I need and nothing I don’t,, etc.
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chucker
‽
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: near Bremen, Germany
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2022-05-24, 07:32

I wish iOS would at this point let third-party apps provide UI to more selectively remove data. Some apps have done this themselves (Overcast, for example), and some do it right in Settings (Music, but this is something only Apple can do).

I'm also surprised iOS even runs at all on a 16 GB phone any more.
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2022-05-24, 08:19

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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2022-05-24, 08:58

Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker View Post
I'm also surprised iOS even runs at all on a 16 GB phone any more.
I’m cutting it close, no doubt. I’m sure iOS 15 is the farthest this model/capacity will ever make it. Of that 16GB, much of it is indeed used by the system. iOS 16 will surely cut this model - and several others - loose, finally. But that’s a good run. I bet there isn’t a smartphone from early 2016 running the latest version of Android.

I’m at that ~14GB with no onboard music, no photos/videos to speak of (I regularly offload to the MacBook) and only three third-party apps.

So, yeah…most of that is iOS and the built-in stock apps. 64GB will feel like a mansion to my current tepee.

I doubt I’ll ever use up anything close to that, but they no longer offer the 32GB tier…

Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2022-05-24 at 09:12.
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