Apple Watch Series 3- Storage Issues

Hi Zoltan,

This problem was driving me crazy. I have to reset my watch multiple times a day.

Can you please describe what you did step by step? I didn't understand what you meant by "switched off the message synchronising in the iCloud (with delete all message data),"

Thanks in advance for your reply.

Hi, merlofed.

I have solved the issue.

Here are the steps I took to pinpoint the problem.

1) I paired my watch with another iCloud account and the problem disappeared so it was obvious that the iCloud is the culprit.

2) I checked my iCloud storage to see in a detailed fashion.(in Iphone>Apple ID>Icloud>Manage Storage)

3) I realized that reminders is using 3,9GB which seemed odd.

4) I got on my Mac and found reminders app database(Mac>username>library folder>reminders)

5) I saw that 3 of my reminders which happen to be the only reminders with photo attached have been copied for each day I completed them. 3 photos were 52mb in size and they were repeated 75 days.

6) It was obvious this shouldn't happen.

7) I backed up all my reminders to a note in notes app via a shortcut(shortcuts app).

8) I deleted all reminders in all my devices that use the same iCloud account.

9) I removed all reminders app on all devices. I also removed the watch app on iPhone just to be sure.

10) I signed out of iCloud on all devices and waited for 15 minutes.

11) I turned off all devices and waited for 15 minutes.

12) I logged back in to iCloud in order(Mac > iPhone > iPad > Apple Watch)

13) I waited for several hours so that all data from iCloud servers to sync to my devices.

14) When all finished, my problem was gone.

Finally!

Some strange exchanges with Apple support:

ME: Can you offer me a solution?

Apple Support: No. Wait for an update.

ME: I have waited for 3 updates. How long should I wait?

Apple Support: Indefinitely.

ME: Is this even legal?

Apple Support: This is an extraordinary bug so you must wait.

ME: Shouldn't extraordinary conditions require extraordinary solutions?

Apple Support: We can't do anything that are not on our procedures.

ME: But your procedures don't offer any solution for the iCloud service I still pay on a monthly basis?

Apple Support: We apologize for the inconvenience.

ME: You make your users use a closed operating system and you cause a fatal error since there is nothing wrong with my watch's hardware. Shouldn't you take some sort of responsibility?

Apple Support: Our engineers are doing everything they can.

ME: Are you human?(yes I had to ask that at some point.)

Apple Support: Yes(uncanny valley style)

ME: Fine, I will solve this by myself.

Apple Support: Could you please let us know how if you solve it?

ME: Oh... the audacity!

:D I told the exact same thing to Apple Support that they use us for free debugging and I can accept if they decide to gift me all the things in my shopping cart on Apple Store app. She quietly gave out a bitter laugh.

Any updates from anyone?

I’ve been running 6.2.8 since mid August when I deleted my phone backup and Health Data from iCloud and fully un-paired and re-paired my watch as new. I haven’t loaded a single app other than the native apps onto the watch as a test. It’s been fluctuating but I currently have 126MB worth of native app data and it says I’m using 2.5GB with 2.2GB available. With no other apps, I’m still seeing the issue persist but with more room so as to not get the “Storage Full” message. At this point I think we have to wait until WatchOS 7 for a full reset. So disappointing. 

FYI, I have the similar problem and none of solutions work. Apple watch 7 does not solve the problem either.

Apple is useless and they have told me for months it's in engineering being worked on. This is extremely frustration. I don't think it's really an iCloud issue because I add no additional apps and the usage is far less. The operating system supposedly uses 1.2GB. If you add the basic items, it's very small - I texted adding, removing, etc. Nothing works. I guess we will be old when it's resolved.

I’ve been experiencing exactly the same issues with my watch. The suggestions to check the reminders on the iCloud storage worked well as they were taking up over 4GB. I wiped the reminders data completely off my iCloud and then signed out of the cloud. When I signed back in and restarted the watch (as a new watch) it seems to have stabilised on using 1.3GB and having 2.9GB free. I am also now running Watch OS7. Hopefully this will solve it...

Thanks for all the help on here- you’ve made more sense than multiple ‘experts’ out there!

I worked with an Apple Adivsor for nearly three hours yesterday and am happy to say the problem has been resolved. I had a great advisor who was very patient.

Making a lengthy solution short would be a bad idea, but we turned reminders off from a synch on iCloud and did a reset/erase instead of "just unpairing!" I think if you speak to an advisor, have help you by discussing the "expected behavior". I had this for months - I have ios7 on Apple watch. I have to give my advisor extremely high marks.

For me, my decreasing storage is definitely related to an enhanced Siri language pack. I noticed by looking at my wi-fi router interface that the Watch was daily downloading 0.5GB of data, but only at the times the Watch was charging. That's normal behaviour consistent with a new Apple device downloading the enhanced voice, and normally just happens in the background without user intervention. I also notice than on the Watch if I go to Settings > Siri > Siri voice, there is a message at the bottom which says, "Waiting to download. Download will occur when your watch is charging". After charging the Watch (and the accompanying 0.5GB download) this message momentarily disappears, but then re-appears after a few minutes. The following day the cycle repeats all over again, more downloading, and loss of free storage. I'm sometimes able to free up Storage by momentarily changing the Siri accent (or even toggling between Male & Female). It seems to me that it's successfully downloading the enhanced language pack, but failing to apply it on Watch Series 3 (with WatchOS 7.1 in my case) and then doesn't clear the downloaded file before trying again the next day. It shouldn't make a difference, but I'm going to try changing the accent from British to American next to see if those files work any better.

I am having the same issue. I am on watch number 2 because apple support assured me it was a memory issue. Apple support was supposed to call me back...they did and left a message on the work phone but I did not have a number to call them back. I took the first watch back and got one with 16GB. Same problem happening. So I thought maybe it was the phone. I paired it with another iPhone I used previously...still the same issue. When I pulled up the usage....it doesn't come close to the limit. I have unpaired, reset and paired, turned it off and on.....currently I have to pair and unpair the watch probably three times a day. I have taken to the iPhone repair center and the quick attempt was not successful. They pretty much did what I had already done. I now have to take the phone and the watch to the repair center and drop them both off if I want them to try and fix it. I should have stuck with a Fitbit. I am beyond frustrated. I wish you luck and I hope you resolve your issue.

from “hasanfromsakarya”

I have solved the issue.

Here are the steps I took to pinpoint the problem.

1) I paired my watch with another iCloud account and the problem disappeared so it was obvious that the iCloud is the culprit.

2) I checked my iCloud storage to see in a detailed fashion.(in Iphone>Apple ID>Icloud>Manage Storage)

3) I realized that reminders is using 3,9GB which seemed odd.

4) I got on my Mac and found reminders app database(Mac>username>library folder>reminders)

5) I saw that 3 of my reminders which happen to be the only reminders with photo attached have been copied for each day I completed them. 3 photos were 52mb in size and they were repeated 75 days.

6) It was obvious this shouldn't happen.

7) I backed up all my reminders to a note in notes app via a shortcut(shortcuts app).

8) I deleted all reminders in all my devices that use the same iCloud account.

9) I removed all reminders app on all devices. I also removed the watch app on iPhone just to be sure.

10) I signed out of iCloud on all devices and waited for 15 minutes.

11) I turned off all devices and waited for 15 minutes.

12) I logged back in to iCloud in order(Mac > iPhone > iPad > Apple Watch)

13) I waited for several hours so that all data from iCloud servers to sync to my devices.

14) When all finished, my problem was gone.

Finally!

Some strange exchanges with Apple support:

ME: Can you offer me a solution?

Apple Support: No. Wait for an update.

ME: I have waited for 3 updates. How long should I wait?

Apple Support: Indefinitely.

ME: Is this even legal?

Apple Support: This is an extraordinary bug so you must wait.

ME: Shouldn't extraordinary conditions require extraordinary solutions?

Apple Support: We can't do anything that are not on our procedures.

ME: But your procedures don't offer any solution for the iCloud service I still pay on a monthly basis?

Apple Support: We apologize for the inconvenience.

ME: You make your users use a closed operating system and you cause a fatal error since there is nothing wrong with my watch's hardware. Shouldn't you take some sort of responsibility?

Apple Support: Our engineers are doing everything they can.

ME: Are you human?(yes I had to ask that at some point.)

Apple Support: Yes(uncanny valley style)

ME: Fine, I will solve this by myself.

Apple Support: Could you please let us know how if you solve it?

ME: Oh... the audacity!

Not sure if this could help, but it did for me. There was someone on here yesterday that told me about an issue with reminders. If you have pictures added to your reminders....erase them. This is what worked for me. I was unpairing and pairing my watch three times a day. Bought two separate watches and used two separate phones. The issue it seems was the reminders. You may have to restart your watch one more time after deleting the reminders.

Whoever told me that yesterday...thank you so much if you see this!

Adding my discontent: I too have repeatedly unpaired and re-paired my Apple Watch [Model A1978] and iPhone Xs, with updated OS in each, and repeatedly the storage is increased, only to reach max again within hours or minutes. I have deleted Messages, Photos, and Music, as recommended. Makes no difference. Apple, please fix this problem.

I figured out that this problem (probably a bug) was fixed for me by deleting old text messages off my iPhone. Even though I did not have text messages synced to the watch, and in the usage report it said messages were 0, once I deleted them off my iPhone my free space on my watch magically went from 400MB to 2.5GB.

everyone has been complaining about this for ages! why wont they fix this issue i mean come on Im having to restart my watch everytime a new update comes out which is all the time is this their shabby solution? really wack!

Guess which platform never has these issues? Hint: it's not an Apple platform.

Am I salty? Yes.

Seriously, though, why hasn't Apple adopted the Chromebook/Android pattern of having multiple partitions to enable instant updates anyway? Must be the profit margins.. just don't allow for such user conveniences.