iPadOS released 4GB space

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iPadOS released 4GB space

I know a lot of people, myself included, have had issues updating the latest iPadOS due to insufficient space. I noticed today that the space used by iPadOS (15.7.8) has reduced by approx 4 GB. I haven’t downloaded a new OS although I did download some app updates earlier. However, those updates installed a lot more quickly than normal and, with hindsight, it was probably because there was more space available - 6Gb compared to my normal 2GB. Having rebooted, to check the space was still there, I found I had an additional 0.5 GB available (now 4.5 GB more free space).

Has anyone else noticed extra space and is there a nice explanation, which might be helpful to other users who are short of space ?

Thanks.

Posted on Sep 2, 2023 7:58 PM

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Answer 1

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LotusPilot

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Sep 5, 2023 4:25 PM in response to IJustHadToAsk

System software updates typically require at least 4-6GB of available free-space within which to download, unpack, verify and install the update.

If performing the update using a Mac or Windows PC, the space required on the iPad, to install the update, is substantially reduced - as the download, unpack and verify processes are performed on the Mac/PC.

For efficient operation of iPad, it is generally recommended that you aim to maintain at least 4-6GB of free storage space for the Operating System. iOS/iPadOS needs space to operate - as idle/suspended Apps are swapped between RAM and the system cache.

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Answer 2

Sep 5, 2023 5:51 PM in response to IJustHadToAsk

As described, storage fragmentation is a potential cause of the disparity. Updating from one major version of iPadOS to another, or restoring a backup to a device, will effectively release unusable "slack space" from the filesystem.

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Answer 3

Sep 5, 2023 5:28 PM in response to LotusPilot

Appreciate your response but, in this instance, I do not believe it answers this specific report. It is not a problem, as such, since I have 4.5 GB more space, released within the space of a 3 hour window. I updated the iPadOS a few months ago and have rebooted many times since. I don’t have exact figures for the space used by the operating system and system data, before getting this space back, but my data usage didn’t drop by 4.5 GB and visual comparisons of the iPad storage colour chart indicate that approx 4 GB of this 4.5 GB was previously in use by the Operating system. The other 0.5 GB may well have come from System Data. I certainly didn’t lose 4.5 GB when I last updated the OS so my current belief is that the system gave me back space which it had been allocating for years. I therefore wondered if anyone else had noticed this behaviour and, if so, whether there was some task/activity that could be performed to release similarly “allocated” space on other iPads. For the record, my iPad currently has 7.26 GB allocated to iPadOS and 4.73 GB allocated to System Data. Regards.

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Answer 4

Sep 5, 2023 6:02 PM in response to LotusPilot

Hmm, 4 GB seems a very large fragmentation to me, especially months after I updated my iPadOS. However, thanks for the response. I will endeavour to monitor my system usage more closely, in future, to see if there is any dramatic increase but, currently, I am simply enjoying the additional 4.5 GB. Regards.

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iPadOS released 4GB space

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