Suggestions to Fill up iPhone Storage?

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Level 1

4 points

Suggestions to Fill up iPhone Storage?

I’m looking for something to fill up the storage on an iPhone with 80 GB free. Yes, it’s an unusual request. My 90 year old mother has moderate dementia and can no longer adapt to change, so I want to block her phone from updating to iOS 18 (it would make several of the apps she uses daily unusable for her). It’s my understanding that Software Update requires ~10 GB of storage in order to download an iOS update. So, I’d like to fill ~70 GB of the 80 GB that she has free.

I’d rather not put anything in Files because she does use that for some existing documents. And her photos and videos in the Photos app are up in iCloud, so any space hogging images/vids would have to use another app. It should be pretty easy to tuck things away in a corner of her iPhone that she won’t notice. She doesn’t even know that there is an App Library, so apps that aren’t on her Home Screen don’t exist to her.

Does anyone have advice on what I might use to efficiently fill ~70 GB?

iPhone 13 Pro Max, currently running iOS 17.7

Posted on Oct 13, 2024 5:22 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

2399

Level 2

323 points

Oct 13, 2024 5:28 PM in response to BauerFilter

If you have a large quantity of photos somewhere, you can import those to the device and store them locally. Or you could download some TV shows or movies to the device.

Have you already looked into parental controls for your mother's devices? Obviously advertised for children, but commonly used in reverse as well. Here's an article if you haven't tried that yet: Use parental controls on your child's iPhone and iPad - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Kurt Lang

Level 9

68,412 points

Oct 14, 2024 12:17 PM in response to BauerFilter

TheLittles is quite correct. An iPhone is essentially a hand-held computer. And like any other computer, there needs to be a certain amount of free space for the OS and your apps to use for scratch files, cache data and other operations that require room to work in.

Filling it to the brim will cause the same kinds of issue you'd see on a Mac or PC. Files may become damaged, or on devices that are very close to full, it will freeze.

10% is a bit risky, but will probably work. Still, while I do understand your situation, it isn't something I'd recommend.

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Answer 3

TheLittles

Level 10

202,775 points

Oct 13, 2024 5:52 PM in response to BauerFilter

"Suggestions to Fill up iPhone Storage?: [...]I’d rather not put anything in Files because she does use that for some existing documents.[...]"

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Keep Free Space:

So, what's the internal storage capacity? Be certain to leave it 20% empty. If it gets close to full storage, that can lead to overheating.

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Answer 4

BauerFilter Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 14, 2024 11:55 AM in response to 2399

Any recommendations for a good app to use to fill the storage with either the photos and/or videos? I don’t want the pic/vids to just disappear up into her iCloud account, so the Photos app on her phone isn’t an option.

Thank you for the suggestion of Parental Controls. That will almost certainly be useful as my mother’s memory and judgement continue to deteriorate, but I don’t think they can be used to block an iOS update. I’d be happy to be shown that I’m wrong about that.

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Answer 5

BauerFilter Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 14, 2024 12:05 PM in response to TheLittles

Unfortunately, keeping the storage 20% free would defeat my purpose for trying to fill up her storage in the first place. I don't think that the update to iOS 18 will be blocked if she has 20% free. I was going to shoot for somewhere just shy of 10%. Well, at least I now know why my wife is always complaining that her iPhone runs hot. I routinely have to help her delete things and offload stuff into the cloud in order to temporarily free up space to download an update. Overheating might be a risk I have to take in order to block the iOS 18 update for my mother. While occasional overheating has the potential to make her iPhone useless to her, iOS 18 will certainly make her iPhone useless for some of the main things she uses it for.

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Answer 6

TheLittles

Level 10

202,775 points

Oct 14, 2024 5:55 PM in response to BauerFilter

"[...]I don't think that the update to iOS 18 will be blocked if she has 20% free. I was going to shoot for somewhere just shy of 10%. Well, at least I now know why my wife is always complaining that her iPhone runs hot. I routinely have to help her delete things and offload stuff into the cloud in order to temporarily free up space to download an update.[...]"

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Keep an Eye on Internal Storage:

Sorry to say, but you need to keep an eye on this storage, or your mother herself. So, for your reference, and your mother's reference, here is what I typically reply to people with, when it comes to managing and freeing up space on your iPhone...

Troubleshooting iPhone Storage:

Internal storage cannot be upgraded. It is what it is. So, the maximum internal storage capacity never increases, even if you upgraded your iCloud plan. Learn More here: What's the Difference Between Device Storage and iCloud Storage? Apple Support

So, what to do...

Clear Space Using my User Tips:

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Answer 7

BauerFilter Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 14, 2024 12:03 PM in response to BauerFilter

Accidentally replied to myself instead of TheLittles

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Suggestions to Fill up iPhone Storage?

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