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Yet another iPhone-related help/clarification request...what's eating my space?


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Yet another iPhone-related help/clarification request...what's eating my space?
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2016-04-13, 16:38

For six months I had a temporary iPhone 5c, 16GB. With the 9-10 third-party apps and the 85-100 songs, I always had 9-9.5GB of free space.

When I got my new 16GB iPhone SE last week, I basically recreated it from scratch, syncing the same 2-3 music playlists from iTunes (about 90 songs), downloading/installing the exact same handful of third-party apps. I set it up as a new phone since I had no photos to bring over, only a handful of apps to reinstall, etc. Figured it would give me a good clean starting point, all fresh.

And for those first several days, and throughout this past weekend, I was showing ~9.2GB of free space (this is when checking on the iPhone itself, via General > Storage & iCloud Usage). Totally in the zone of what I'd expect with nothing changed, content/media-wise, from the 5c.

The past two days - with me not syncing any additional music over, not installing any additional apps and not even taking/storing any photos or video - it's now showing I've got 8.2GB free space.



Where did that ~1GB of storage go in less than a week's time (really in just the past 48 or so hours), with me adding/changing/creating nothing (certainly nothing totaling 1GB).

Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2016-04-13 at 17:21. Reason: Just cut to the chase...I can include details if needed
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Dutch Pear
Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
 
2016-04-14, 06:43

My guess would be either iCloud syncing data to your iPhone or WhatsApp backups.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2016-04-14, 13:05



What data? I use iCloud for my Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Safari, etc. syncing - and have for years - but I don't use any of the photo-based features, nor am I using iCloud Drive or anything new or different than what I've had in place/set up for years. Nothing other than the core, low-level stuff is being synced OTA via iCloud. And it isn't like I've added 400 contacts or 25 new notes with embedded images, etc. either.

My iPhone gets backed up to iTunes, the old-fashioned way, when I connect it to my iMac once a day.

Is Whatsapp a third-party app? Because if so, I don't use it. It's not in my phone and never has been.

Also, I have no texts containing images/media in Messages, etc.

The important part of all this is to know that this iPhone SE has been set up exactly like the 16GB in terms of media (same playlists I had synced on the previous phone, same exact apps/settings, etc.

BTW, it's showing 8.0-8.1GB free today, so it's dropping from what it was yesterday.

If I'd taken 150 photos, shot some HD video, synced over another few hundred songs, installed 5-10 new apps and/or had messages with attached pics or video sitting in my Messages app starting Sunday-Monday...I'd expect to lose 1GB storage, and it wouldn't be a mystery.

Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2016-04-14 at 13:21.
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PB PM
Sneaky Punk
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
Send a message via Skype™ to PB PM 
2016-04-14, 14:12

I noticed something like that with my 6s, it has less usable space running the same version of iOS as my 5c did (both 16GB devices) with the same stuff on it. I looked closer, the default usable space was less to start with, due to more apps that Apple pushed the the device (apps that were not compatible with the 5c) that cannot be removed. That said, I've never noticed it eating space on a daily basis.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2016-04-14, 15:27

Yeah, if it was like this since last Thursday (when got the SE), I wouldn't think anything about it. Different phone, different iOS load/requirements, etc.

But the fact that it started out just like my 5c, then, days later, I start to inexplicably lose free space...that's a real head-scratcher!
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2016-04-14, 23:35

I think this is something with how the iPhone is caching information. I don't know why it fills space but it does. If you search for "Free iPhone space" you will likely find articles talking about trying to rent a really large movie to force your phone to free up space. This is clearly something that doesn't have to be there, but it does fill your space. To my knowledge, no one has identified what exactly is filling up the space.

Edit: Better yet, here's an article from Forbes talking about it.

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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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2016-04-15, 08:06

Interesting, thanks. That's just weird. My 5c never did this. It never displayed less than 9GB and would always accurately reflect what I'd sync to/from or add/delete (photos, extra music, etc.) at any time. It never registered a 1GB drop/loss of storage in a 24-hour period that couldn't be explained/accounted for (I've not rented anything, and I'm not using any app or feature - or in any different way - on this SE than I did the previous six months).

That's what makes me think it could be a specific little issue/quirk with 9.3.1 and this new SE, and at some point there will be an update that will address it. I must have done something Sunday evening or so that triggered it, but I can't figure out what.

Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2016-04-15 at 08:24.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2016-05-01, 10:31

Is this normal? I don't think I've ever noticed such a discrepancy before, leading me to think there's still some sort of iOS glitch related to the displaying of my free space on my iPhone SE (which I still love, BTW...speed, battery life, overall Snappiness™ are all top-notch and I couldn't be more pleased with the thing).

But this storage thing is just an ongoing bit of weirdness that I'm kinda Ahab'ing over (fits that my iPhone is white, I guess).

The below screenshots were taken just now, within seconds of each other on each device.

Usage bar as it appears in iTunes on my iMac (it shows 8.27GB free, case the graphics is too small/blurred to see clearly):



Usage info from the iPhone SE itself:



That's about 300MB, right?

Why such a difference in reporting? Is the iTunes info not taking something into account that the iPhone is? Or is it always this off and I'm just now noticing it because I'm trying to figure out what's zapping my free space?
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PB PM
Sneaky Punk
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
Send a message via Skype™ to PB PM 
2016-05-01, 11:10

I think that is an iTunes bug, I see the same thing.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2016-06-07, 20:49

Was down to 6.1GB of free space showing on my phone, with "used" at a whopping 5GB (up from 2-3GB when I got this phone two months ago), for zero apparent reason.

Mind you, iTunes was showing 7.8GB free space, so a discrepancy there of about 1.7GB just between the two places.

Finally said "screw it" (after reading Apple support forums, where, BTW, nobody from Apple was offering any sort of resolution, cause, advice, etc. and people were suggesting a erase/reset and restore, or rebuild from scratch).

Did so, and now my phone (and iTunes) are showing 9.4GB free and my "used" is like 2.4GB. In other words, The Way It's Supposed to Be.

So iOS is harboring/accumulating trash or cached stuff and that number keeps growing and your "available space" keeps dropping. These new numbers above are what I had when I first got this iPhone (or close to it). Then it nudged down to the 7-8 ranges over a month and then down, these past two weeks, to 6.1GB (with even LESS music, apps and photos than I had on the damn thing back when it was telling me I had 7+GB free).

So I don't know if it's a glitch and an ongoing thing (I guess if, in two months, I'm back down to 6GB free, I'll know), but it seems like some sort of "eating" bug? Or that iOS is keeping stuff around and bloating up.

I don't know if it's an iOS 9 issue, or something related to certain phone models, or even triggered by the usage of particular apps (Music, Video, various stores, etc.?), but I like going from 6.1GB (which I knew was bogus/inexplicable) to a more accurate and sensible 9.4GB free space, which actually matches the real-life math.

I did a backup, disconnected the iPhone and did a erase/wipe from the iPhone, reconnected it to iTunes and chose to restore from most recent backup. Too less than six minutes and all I had to do was redo my fingerprint/TouchID stuff and enter my Apple ID password. Everything else - my third party apps, the icon layout/organization, third-party apps, custom wallpaper, various user settings, etc. all came back as before (restored, without me having to manually redo it all).

I know this can't be "normal", so perhaps a future iOS update (9.x.x or even iOS 10 this fall) will address this "bloat" issue.

Anyway, there is a way out of it if you're experiencing the discrepancy and/or bloat...takes less than 10 or so minutes. At least for me (I didn't have a ton of stuff to sync back...six photos, 40 songs and fewer than 10 non-stock apps).
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2016-06-08, 08:48

Okay, now I know it's a stupid quirk/issue. In just 12 hours - overnight, with me adding/doing nothing - I've gone from 9.4 to 9.1GB of free space. The "used" has gone from 2.1 to 2.4GB.

Even when I do a Safari history/cache zapping, a soft reset, etc. it doesn't change. Something just keeps amassing, slowly, on the iPhone and has zero to do with me adding anything (pics, music, etc.).

By this time tomorrow, I'll be at 8.8GB or so (maybe less?). I lost 300MB overnight, doing nothing to bring it about. Doing the math, I will lose 1GB by the weekend, for no reason I can think of.

Frustrating/confusing, as a) it's one of those irritating "no rhyme or reason" issues, and b) to my knowledge no one from Apple is responding to any questions about it in their support forums. All it is are everyday users/customers sharing tips/advice and possible workarounds or fixes (none of which truly help or address the issue long term or permanently).

This was never an issue before. My available iPhone storage would never slowly creep lower over time without me adding stuff. I could look at my available/used numbers and they'd stay steady/the same when I didn't add things to change them.

So this IS a glitch/bug/issue. Last night's backup/restore is a temporary fix to reclaim some space from the mystery bloat. But it's obviously not a permanent fix/solution.
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PB PM
Sneaky Punk
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
Send a message via Skype™ to PB PM 
2016-06-08, 19:43

If it was a caching issue restarting the phone would fix it, since iOS dumps and clears stuff like that on reboot, just like Mac OS.

I suspect the real bug is with the space report and not any actual change in available space. Kind of like how on my 6s, it often won't show battery usage data even after extended use of many apps.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2016-06-08, 21:54

Here's some more evidence of a glitch/bug (and this is very unusual for me, going a full day sans iPhone): I left today around 11:15am. For the first time I can remember, I left/forgot my iPhone at home. I was either gone or outside all day long, not touching/using my iPhone from 11:15am until 10:50pm. I just walked in, after nearly 12 solid hours of being gone...meaning ZERO iPhone use for 11.5+ hours.

Available space is now showing 8.9GB. 200MB went somewhere throughout this ~12-hour stretch of me not even here to turn on/use the thing. With no use, the thing is losing space (or, at the very least, falsely reporting so) and bulking up on the system/used space. For. No. Apparent. Reason.

So, in a wonderful, unexpected treat, I don't even have to be using the thing at all to lose space. How cool! Can Android do this?

Think there will be a jackball-free iOS release at WWDC? Or are Tim & Co. just gonna group-tug on stage over new summer 2016 watch bands and Beats/Apple Music stuff for two hours? Can't wait to not watch the livestream next week! Someone be sure to let me know if anyone from Apple gets on stage and halfway acts like they give a fuck. I'll scrub to that portion on the presentation vid.
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PB PM
Sneaky Punk
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
Send a message via Skype™ to PB PM 
2016-06-08, 21:57

The next dot release of 9.3 is coming soonish, but I doubt you'll see iOS 10 before September/October.

I suspect WWDC will be talking Mac OS 10.12 (yawn), iOS 10 (yawn), Swift, and other developer stuff. Don't get your hopes up!
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2016-06-08, 22:05

Trust me, I'm not. Haven't for years. I don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

But maybe 9.3 will address the issue. We'll see.
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