"Other" taking up more than 5GB on my 4S. Please help!

Question

"Other" taking up more than 5GB on my 4S. Please help!

Hello,

I need some technical help with my 16GB iPhone 4S. The problem is that the yellow "other" is taking up 5.15GB of space. My tech support warranty has expired, so I can't get in touch with an Apple tech helper. Has there been any update in regards to this issue? This has been happening for years now. Has Apple worked out a solution that does not involve a restore?

I don't use my phone as an MP3 player (I only have ONE small MP3 that I use as a wake-up alarm), I've deleted all text messages/iMessages, deleted all the photos and videos I took, reset the phone by holding the home button and the sleep/power button, synced with iTunes on the computer, I have third party apps, but I don't have any files saved on my phone through them. I see no reason for the "other" space to be so large.

I've looked into this issue and COUNTLESS other iPhones (and even iPads) have had this issue. There are only two non-solution type solutions I found in my research. One is to swipe on "Music" in the "Usage" settings and restarting the phone right away, but this did not work for me. And the other is to completely restore your iPhone as new (this is NOT a solution, really.).

Here are just SOME of the threads I found about the same exact issue:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3571266?start=0&tstart=0

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5011318?start=0&tstart=0

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4853343?start=0&tstart=0

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4429045?start=0&tstart=0

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1373837

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2237989

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4221022?start=0&tstart=0

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5032546?start=0&tstart=0

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5000467?start=0&tstart=0

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4042835?start=0&tstart=0

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2562027?start=75&tstart=0

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2765173?start=0&tstart=0

http://forums.imore.com/iphone-5/243401-other-taking-up-too-much-space.html

I had posted this earlier, but the thread was deleted. So I’ve revised my post and here is attempt number two. I am just a loyal Apple customer and need some help with my phone. I hope anything I’ve typed here does not necessitate a post deletion.

Thank you.

iPhone 4S, iOS 6.0.1

Posted on Jul 2, 2013 11:14 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 2, 2013 11:34 AM in response to farhansusername

With all due respect, if you want to get rid of the "other" space, and not just make some type of point, do the restore. I'm not clear why doing a restore isn't a potential solution.It may not conform to what a purist would want done, but if it works, go for it. In my opinion, that is the bottom line.

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Answer 2

roaminggnome

Level 10

106,365 points

Jul 2, 2013 11:34 AM in response to farhansusername

You have the answer. You simply do not like it.

Restore from backup.

If that fails restore as new.

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Answer 3

Jul 2, 2013 11:34 AM in response to farhansusername

iTunes divides used content into categories indicated on the bottom of the screen when you have selected your device.

Audio: Includes songs, audio podcasts, audiobooks, voice memos, and ringtones
Video: Includes movies, music videos, and TV shows
Photos: Includes Camera Roll contents, Photo Stream, and Photo Library
Apps: Includes installed apps and their content
Books
Other: Everything else, such as contacts, calendars, messages, emails and their attachments, Safari Offline Reading List, settings, and other system resources.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1867

Other system resources include your iPhone's operating system.

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Answer 4

Jul 2, 2013 11:46 AM in response to farhansusername

Thank you for your help and responses. To be honest, this happened a few times before as well. I did the restore from backup one time and that helped. And another time a restore from back up did not help, so I restored as new. I've played around with the "restore" solution on my iPad too because it as well has had this problem. A restore is not a solution if I have to do it every few months and have to reload my apps/settings and lose my game progess in the process. There has to be a better way. Because this "other" issue really ruins the otherwise smooth experience that iDevices are known for.

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Answer 5

pdroth

Level 5

5,171 points

Jul 2, 2013 11:48 AM in response to farhansusername

I can save you a lot of reading - if you ever sent pictures/videos via Messages, they are erroneously stored on your device even after you delete them. This was fixed in 6.1.2, but it didn't address orphaned files from earlier iOS versions.

A clean wipe and restore as new will address it, which is what I ended up doing about a month ago. I took great care to copy all of my settings and wherever possible get copies of my game progress (Angry Birds) so the process would be as painless as possible.

So, there is a little work involved, but it will do the job. It would be nice of Apple if they can finally address all of this in iOS7, so time will tell. In the meantime, there is a workaround, and depending on what the contents of your phone are it could be easier than you think.

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Answer 6

Jul 2, 2013 1:06 PM in response to pdroth

Yes, I do send and receive photos/videos through iMessage often. But I always make sure to delete them from within iMessages after saving to my camera roll. So you mean to say that even after deleting those messages (and also those files from the camera roll), they can still remain somewhere somehow on the phone?

I wasn't aware that an update (6.1.2) addresses this issue. I basically stopped updating after they quietly took out Google's YouTube and Maps apps and replaced Maps with Apple's own.

Thanks for the tip. I shall try another clean restore and the iOS update. I hope this restore will be the last for a long, long time.

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