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iPhone 4 'Other' Space is 6.8GB!?!?!

I have an iPhone 4 on iOS5.0.1 and a MacBook Air that is on Lion v10.7.2 and iTunes v10.5.2.


This morning I was syncing a complete lot of new music to my iPhone via USB, when someone phoned and as I answered I unplugged the cable. When I plugged the iPhone back in, the 'Other' section was up to 6.8GB. My phone shows as having no music. The music that I wanted on the phone is around 7.9GB, so I'm pretty sure that the 6.8GB is where the sync had got up to before it was interrupted.


I've tried to resync, etc, but I can't get any music on because of the large 'Other' file. I'm in an area with really slow internet, so restoring would take forever because downloading the iOS to my computer would take about three days.


Any suggestions!?


Thanks,

iPhone 4, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Dec 14, 2011 11:06 PM

Reply
107 replies

Dec 14, 2011 11:23 PM in response to philipjamesbowen

There is no other way than restoring, to get rid of the large "other" part on your device. Looks like something went wrong during a sync, causing iTunes to put the damaged files into that section.

You don't need to download the firmware again, it should be still on your computer.
Restoring is also explained here: Backing Up, updating, and restoring your iPhone and iPod touch software


Message was edited by: Ingo2711

Apr 29, 2012 6:57 AM in response to philipjamesbowen

The space occupied by 'other' on mine was 1.62 GB, so I started deleting all my mails and my messages and it bacame 1.61 GB. Then I deleted this app called Cinema, which lets you download movies to your phone and apparently stores it in 'other' instead of 'Apps'. The space occupied by 'other' after this was 0.42 GB. So, no need to restore, just delete that stupid app, which is doing everything wrong!

Jul 4, 2012 2:35 PM in response to philipjamesbowen

I found the biggest culprit for "Other" storage is the "Messages" app. It's actually quite the hog if you do a lot of media messaging. "Messages" will create a copy of any media piece you send and store it in "Other" capacity until you actually delete that content from within the "Messages" app. In fact, you can delete the original video or photo from the "Photos" app, but the "Messages" copy will remain in "Other" storage until you actually go in and delete it. And this can rack up real fast. The same thing also happens when recieving a video or photo message, except in reverse. If the user elects to save that media, two copies will exist. One in "Messages" and one in "Photos".


Maybe Apple had a reason for designing it this way, but on the surface it seems pretty silly. I don't think "Messages" should be creating and storing a copy of content you want to send. The user already has a copy in their "Photos" app, they don't need an additional one in "Messages". Further more, if you elect to save a recieved piece of media, "Messages" should move that content to "Photos" app/storage and out of "Other". Then again maybe Apple had a reason for doing it this way.

Jul 26, 2012 12:23 PM in response to philipjamesbowen

I found this elewhere, but it worked for me.


On your iPhone, go to Settings>General>Usage. Swipe the Music line to the left and press delete. IMMEDIATELY shut the phone off-don't exit or anything like that. When you turn on your phone and connect it to iTunes, you may find a huge chunk of your "other" space gone.


When I first did it, it scared the living daylights out of me, but it worked. My other space was quite a bit smaller, but I now have 0.1 GB of other space.

iPhone 4 'Other' Space is 6.8GB!?!?!

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