I'm getting to the last straw, again. iphone is consumer > 50% of storage for System and Other.

> 66% of my storage is used by Apple. I've deleted apps and data. I've offloaded many apps. I have ZERO music, pictures or videos on my phone. I only have email, web browsing and some reference books on my phone.

For the past 2 weeks, it seems none of my apps (banking, work security and some shopping apps like Prime) have been able to update. Insufficient space.

Other is "... caches, logs and other resources..." WTF do I need with 7GB of caches and logs? Whenever I delete something to make space, Other just grows. Like it's also inclusive of empty space.

Interwebs suggest that this has been going on for a few years and affects all devices. Some people with 64GB of storage see Other consumer 42GB!

I hate the S&G pair. I don't have love for A either but it's been the lessor evil. Now, seems like I'm forced to switch.

There ought to be a law against planned obsolescence.

Come to the dark side...

(It really is better. As you said, lesser of two evils.)

My iPhone under system is 5.47GB and under Other is 3.17.

If it is growing while you’re deleting something you’re doing something wrong. Android’s system and other eats up a lot more space. My brother’s Android phone has 12 GB used just for the system.

Sounds like it’s time to make a backup, reset to new, and reload the backup.

You don’t say what model iPhone you have, what iOS you’re on, and how much memory you have. I have an iPhone 8 with 128 GB of memory. I’m only using 19.8 GB. The system is using 5.37 GB and the Other is 2.76. The rest of the used memory is photos, and Apps.

Sounds like something’s corrupted on yours. It’s like any other computer. Sometimes you just have to Cntl, Alt, Del. Resetting and restoring the phone is fairly simple, and might solve all your problems.

6S with 16GB running 13.4.1. But overlayed with enterprise crap to allow corporate email, calendar.

There are lots of reports on the A support webpages on this issue over the past few years. Could be a corruption or a bug. But sounds like I'm definitely not alone here. People with tons of storage on new devices also seeing this behavior.

I'll try to backup, reset and restore but likely a little painful given the enterprise stuff - not sure if that will backup/restore seamlessly.

It was a decent device in the beginning. Now I just look at with disdain.

It’s not any bug in iOS. The amount of data/storage used on your phone tells the story.

I'm not sure I understand your point.

I have 16GB. 5.5GB is consumes by ios. 6.5GB is consumed by Other (per the phone, cache, logs, etc).

I have some apps and data to the tune of a few GB. But a few GB of consumer used space should not render a 16GB device useless. I'm consuming less than 30% of total space. That was fine when I bought the device. But today it's not. How is this not a bug?

Again, I'm not alone here. Pages of this on support.apple. And I shouldn't have to backup, reset and restore to resolve this - that's an issue if it does fix it.

Without getting into the debate of the merits between iPhone and Android, I will say this: if you do make the jump, there are better choices than Samsung for Android phones. Just depends on your carrier.

iPhone 7+ 128gb.

System = 5.54gb

Other = 6.33gb

iCloud Storage = 14.4gb

Photos = 6.9gb (mostly cat pictures, and grandkids)

Backups = 4.6gb

Messages = 1.5gb

You need a bigger/newer phone. My old 5s 16gb started to fill up like yours towards the end of my time with it. it wasn't unuseable, but it got to be a bit of a nuisance, so I bought the 7+.

I might be looking at this wrong, but if you have a 16 GB phone, and the operating system and Other is using 12 GB, you only have 4 GB or 25% of the memory for yourself.

I don’t think you can even get a 16 GB phone anymore. No matter what brand you get, it’s probably going to have at least 128 GB of memory. That’s what is going to solve your problem, not changing brands.

Of course I have not stayed at a Holiday Inn, so I could be completely wrong. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will chime in.

Konata...When you want to update the iOS, do it by connecting your phone to your PC with a USB cable and it'll do the update. I have a 6s Plus and since I'm low on storage space as well, I have to do the updates that way with my PC.

Guys, we're talking past each other.

I understand that having a 16GB phone where the OS takes 5GB and if I want to save 10GB of apps and data, I need a new phone.

If I'm only saving 3GB of apps and data, why should I be forced to buy a new phone. Why is the phone use 5GB for OS and then 7GB for cache and logs?

I'm only using 30% of the purchased storage space.

If you have a 128GB phone and 70% of it used by the OS / system, would you be happy? This is happening per the support pages.

I'm not alone here: there are many submissions on this topic in apple.support. Like this:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251368148

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251276448

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251076967

The common responses include:
1) a definition of what Other is (don't give a fuck)

2) recommendation to backup, reset, recover. Which apparently is only a short term solution per comments by people who have tried it.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
^^^^^
Muddflap...I think you might be confusing "memory" with "storage space"?? Yes...my iPhone 6s Plus's storage capacity is only is 16GB.

Konata...When you want to update the iOS, do it by connecting your phone to your PC with a USB cable and it'll do the update. Since I'm low on storage space as well, I have to do the updates that way with my PC.

I've been doing updates OTA. I've been avoiding installing itunes on my PC. But I did install it this morning to do a backup. Not that I really need a backup. I have no data on the phone per se; email data is in the cloud. Just some apps that access server data.

But re-registering and re-installing apps and server trust certificates is a pain.

I was leaning that direction but it sounds like it's not a permanent fix. So, pain for no long term benefit.

I just checked my phone (iPhone8 on current iOS) and I’m not seeing similar space usage.

System: 5.39GB
Other: 7.34GB

Photos: 1.2GB
Music: 108GB
Audiobooks/Podcasts: 21GB

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Guys, we're talking past each other.

I understand that having a 16GB phone where the OS takes 5GB and if I want to save 10GB of apps and data, I need a new phone.

If I'm only saving 3GB of apps and data, why should I be forced to buy a new phone. Why is the phone use 5GB for OS and then 7GB for cache and logs?

I'm only using 30% of the purchased storage space.

I think I see your point now.

My phone says “Other” is “Caches, logs and other resources”. If you have a 6S, some of this “Other” data could be pretty old and just eating up your space. Is there a way to purge these files?

On another note: Are you still on the original battery? What kind of battery life are you getting?

My battery health is 93% - battery life sucks (doesn't last full day). That was a gripe 2 weeks ago. (needing an appointment one+ week out for a 10 min battery change; after driving 30 min the store)

I've already replaced the battery once before (back when they had the free replacements after the lawsuit).

AFAIK, no way to purge Other.

The way to purge everything (except what you want) is to the back up the stuff you want to keep to iCloud, or your computer, then reset the phone to factory settings. After the reset is done, download your back up. That should clear out all the old dross you no longer want and that's now
clogging up your phone.

IPhone XR for me. Just about 10GB in use out of 64.

Well I agree if you can't have what you want on your phone, or can't use it as desired you need to do something. Muddflap has the right answer probably. Do you have iTunes on a Mac to work with? I didn't catch what model and how much memory you have but just for reference...

ON my 3 yr old iPhone X I curently have....
2,596 music files
34,228 photos
89 apps
17 books

And
"System" is 5.62 GB
"Other is 5.26 GB
"Docs and Data" 23.41GB

I still have about 50% free space (126.47 GB of 256)

I only use iCloud for e-mail, notes, contacts, and calendar, and still only have the free entry level iCloud storage. Phone, including photos and music is backed up to my laptop via iTunes.

All apps and iOS are current versions.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
6S with 16GB

Just saw that. 16 GB! I had that much ~10 years ago on an iPhone 3.
You simply need more phone. I bought the minimum memory, once years ago... once. Now I get the biggest available and don't look back.