TwisterDC
Level 1 (7 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Why is my "other" space on my iPhone 5 / iOS 7 so large and always growing?

I have seen this question posted a lot but I don't believe I've ever seen Apple post a definitive response.  If there is one official definitive response on how to keep this from happening and I missed it sorry. 

 

I have the same problem it seems many are having.  I have an iPhone 5 with 16 GB running iOS 7.0.4.  As soon as I upgraded to iOS 7, I started seeing a lot of my space being taken up by "other".  It was up to about 4-5 GB as I recall, which is ridiculous especially for a phone advertised with 16 GB. 

 

The only remedy I could find that did anything was to restore my phone from scratch, which is a pain in the -ss, but I did it anyway.  Initially that seemed to work and I was in the hundreds of MB of "other" for a while. 

 

Today, about 2 weeks later, I went sync and to my amazement it was up again to 2 GB of "other".  I synced it and then it grew to 2.52 GB.  ***? 

 

I am on iTunes 11.1.3 on Mac if that makes any difference.

 

Is there a definitive fix or something different I can do for this recurrning problem?  Obviously I cannot keep restoring my iPhone once ever week or two to recapture disk space.  I hardly use my phone for the apps (use my iPad for most of that) so it's not like I am doing a bunch of complicated apps with large data sets.

 

Update: I synced it again and now it went up to 2.53 GB. 

 

Is there a fix for this?  It is getting old having to delete all my music to make room for all this.

iPhone 5, iOS 7.0.4, Recurring problem for iOS 7.0.x

Posted on Nov 25, 2013 10:46 AM

by TwisterDC,Solvedanswer
TwisterDC TwisterDC
Level 1 (7 points)
Mac OS X
A:

I think that at this point we have identified that this is clearly an Apple bug (that they for some reason won't fix), and what the short-term solution is.

 

As suggested by others and recently dxing97, iTunes is saving a large amount of corrupted data in the iTunes_control directory.  I also downloaded the trrial of iMazing and used it to delete all the media directories as described. It works as described.  Unfortunately after 15 days you have to pay for it in order to address the Apple bug.  So make sure you add this to the cost of doing business with Apple next time your contract is up and you consider other competing options.  Buy a bigger phone for an extra $100 or buy this utility for an extra $30 to get around the Apple bug.

 

What I found was that it reduced my "Other" space down from about 3-4 GB to about 400 MB, which persisted for several days.  But as soon as I connected to iTunes again and sync'd, iTunes, dumped about 4GB worth of $hit into my "Other" space again.  After I ran iMazing again it reduced it down to <1GB again.

 

Obviously it seems that for some reason every time I sync, iTunes wants to dump abou 4 GB worth of crap into my iTunes_control folder.  So this issue is obviously not "solved", it is a persistent problem.  You need the run the utility to remove the crap every time yo sync with iTunes.  Or better yet, remove all the crap that Apple leaves on your phone and never sync with iTunes again.  That will be my answer personally.

 

Finally, I find it amusing that Apple is facing a class action lawsuit for their iPhones having actually less available space than advertised.  Those guys filing the suit don't know the half of it.  You take a 16 GB iPhone and format it and add the OS and you are down to 11 GB or so, which is what the lawsuit is about.  But realistically speaking you also have to subtract another 4 GB or so for this "Other" space bug, which effectively reduces a 16 GB phone down to the 7-8 GB range.  It's preposterous.

 

I hope they win the lawsuit against Apple.  Apple needs to be knocked off its arrogant pedestal a bit.  

Posted on Jan 2, 2015 4:33 PM

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Q: Why is my "other" space on my iPhone 5 / iOS 7 so large and always growing?

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  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Jul 26, 2014 5:48 PM in response to ishrocker
    Level 8 (38,298 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 26, 2014 5:48 PM in response to ishrocker

    ishrocker wrote:

     

    apparently the forum will no longer allow me to edit my post.  hopefully people read the whole thread

    Rather hard with this long a thread. For future reference, you can edit a post for up to 15 minutes after it appears.

  • by daqieq,

    daqieq daqieq Aug 4, 2014 11:51 AM in response to TwisterDC
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 4, 2014 11:51 AM in response to TwisterDC

    I saw one other person comment about Wi-Fi, and many others about syncing. I wondered if the "Sync with this iPad over Wi-Fi" might be the culprit, since wi-fi connections are notorious for dropping out and all those sync sessions are bound to get interrupted.

     

    It seemed to be the solution for me. My 'Other' category went from 17GB to 1.5GB after unchecking this option and applying the change. Granted, I had just done a system Software Update right before that, but I noticed the reduction did not take effect after the update until I turned off the wi-fi syncing option.

  • by ishrocker,

    ishrocker ishrocker Aug 4, 2014 12:44 PM in response to daqieq
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 4, 2014 12:44 PM in response to daqieq

    I have never tried syncing over WiFi.  I connect my phone directly to the computer, and I still have issues.

  • by Joshua Morganstein,

    Joshua Morganstein Joshua Morganstein Aug 6, 2014 4:41 AM in response to Zhang Jing
    Level 1 (97 points)
    Apple Watch
    Aug 6, 2014 4:41 AM in response to Zhang Jing

    This worked.  Thanks.  Had the same issue with Photos... unchecked in iTunes but space remained occupied on iPhone after sync even though photos were removed.  I removed ALL the stuff in the folders related to media using PhoneView Mac app and rebooted iPhone.  iTunes saw it as new device but all the other data and apps were still there.  I just rechecked to sync all music and photos and waited for it to sync now everything is fine.  We'll see how it goes but for now it suggests a corrupt file or something created by iTunes or the iPhone that confuses iTunes about what is/is not on the iPhone itself.  Nice to have my "Other" back to only 1GB and able to put my music and photos back on!

  • by Harring10,

    Harring10 Harring10 Aug 6, 2014 4:56 AM in response to Zhang Jing
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 6, 2014 4:56 AM in response to Zhang Jing

    Shout out to Shang Jing - his solution worked like a champ.  Go to iTunes control folder and delete all the folders in music.  This cleared up the 'other' storage entirely.

     

    This had not effect on music, videos, or any other data on the phone.

     

    Thanks Zhang.

  • by TwisterDC,

    TwisterDC TwisterDC Aug 6, 2014 7:45 AM in response to Harring10
    Level 1 (7 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 6, 2014 7:45 AM in response to Harring10

    Where do you find this iTunes control folder again?

     

    Thanks

  • by Harring10,

    Harring10 Harring10 Aug 6, 2014 8:20 AM in response to TwisterDC
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 6, 2014 8:20 AM in response to TwisterDC

    In iTools - go to File System

     

    Then go to iTunes_Control

     

    Then go to Music

     

    Delete all of the folders in Music. 

     

    One thing I did have to to do:  After I sync'd it, I noticed all of my music still showed, but when I tried to play them they disappeared.  So I reconnected the iphone and did another sync.  Everything reappeared, but the 'Other' was still near zero.

  • by TwisterDC,

    TwisterDC TwisterDC Aug 6, 2014 8:30 AM in response to Harring10
    Level 1 (7 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 6, 2014 8:30 AM in response to Harring10

    Got it, thanks.  I'm glad it works for you.  I am unable to download and install an application originating from the PRC due to risk of malware, spyware, etc.  I am not saying that I have any knowledge that this application is problematic, because I don't, but unfortunately I cannot use it.

     

    I guess I will revert to my lone course of action - cursing Apple while I hypocritically continue to buy their stuff, and simultaneously praying to the ghost of Steve Jobs that Apple will step up and fix the bug or introduce a tool that enables customers to do what iTools does.  

  • by Trevor Saw,

    Trevor Saw Trevor Saw Aug 7, 2014 1:13 PM in response to TwisterDC
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 7, 2014 1:13 PM in response to TwisterDC

    I had this problem today, I had just upgraded to 7.1.2 and I goofed and it got messed up. While installing the software I turned it on and in my attempt to completely restore my device from backup a mysterious 5.32GB of data appeared in the Other category. My solution which has already been suggested that worked for me was

    1. Uncheck Sync Music *This will remove all the music off of your iPhone*

    2. Back up the phone without ANY music on it

    3. Restore your phone from that backup

    4. Sync Music *This puts all the music back on your iPhone*

    5. Back up the iPhone. This cleared my 5.32GB down to 1.47GB of Other which is much more reasonable.

     

    I hope this helps!

  • by jnajdzion,

    jnajdzion jnajdzion Aug 7, 2014 2:04 PM in response to Trevor Saw
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 7, 2014 2:04 PM in response to Trevor Saw

    This is exactly what I did to fix my phone, see my previous posts.

     

    I had this problem today, I had just upgraded to 7.1.2 and I goofed and it got messed up. While installing the software I turned it on and in my attempt to completely restore my device from backup a mysterious 5.32GB of data appeared in the Other category. My solution which has already been suggested that worked for me was

    1. Uncheck Sync Music *This will remove all the music off of your iPhone*

    2. Back up the phone without ANY music on it

    3. Restore your phone from that backup

    4. Sync Music *This puts all the music back on your iPhone*

    5. Back up the iPhone. This cleared my 5.32GB down to 1.47GB of Other which is much more reasonable.

     

    I hope this helps!

  • by nickfrombarcelona,

    nickfrombarcelona nickfrombarcelona Aug 8, 2014 7:37 AM in response to thenetquest
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 8, 2014 7:37 AM in response to thenetquest

    I have tried everything but a factory reset, really everything... Removing the music files (almost 5GB) did indeed decrease the Other section by 5GB...! So I was happy. But then I loaded the music again, and the Other section increased by 5GB... Now I'm sad again. This is not why I switched from Samsung to Apple. It should work, that's why I pay the extra money.

     

    The only good news is that we located my specific issue. Now Apple needs to solve it.

  • by nickfrombarcelona,

    nickfrombarcelona nickfrombarcelona Aug 8, 2014 8:09 AM in response to Zhang Jing
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 8, 2014 8:09 AM in response to Zhang Jing

    I combined the answers of Zhang with 2 other posts and I'm happy to announce that it's SOLVED.

     

    1. Uncheck Sync Music.

    2. "Apply" to remove all music from your phone.

    3. Open any software that helps you exploring your phone files (I use iPhone Explorer).

    4. HERE IS THE KEY MOMENT: Delete all files nestled under iTunes_Control/Music. These are the duplicate files that take up your space!

    5. Check Sync Music again.

    6. "Apply" to load all music to your phone again.

    7. Solved.

     

    The only downturn is that your phone will be filling up again with these duplicate files, so you'll need to repeat this until Apple fixes it.

     

    Question: iTunes_Control, is that the Remote app that I use for remote controlling iTunes on my desktop? Because it is that folder that causes the problem.

  • by TwisterDC,

    TwisterDC TwisterDC Aug 8, 2014 12:33 PM in response to nickfrombarcelona
    Level 1 (7 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 8, 2014 12:33 PM in response to nickfrombarcelona

    Interesting.  I tried your method, using iPhone Explore in free Demo version, and followed the steps.

     

    I was initially overjoyed to see my "other" space go down from 3 GB down to 700 MB.

     

    But to complete the final step, then in iTunes I clicked on "Sync Music" to restore all my songs, and instantly "other" shoots up from 700 MB back up to %$&*^$FH 6.4 GB. 

     

    That's right - now it's 6.4 GB!!!  ***

     

    God I hate Apple and their indifference and incompetence

  • by nickfrombarcelona,

    nickfrombarcelona nickfrombarcelona Aug 8, 2014 1:10 PM in response to TwisterDC
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 8, 2014 1:10 PM in response to TwisterDC

    Do you use the Remote app?

  • by gilboy,

    gilboy gilboy Sep 22, 2014 8:16 PM in response to TwisterDC
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 22, 2014 8:16 PM in response to TwisterDC

    iOS 8, 128 GB iPhone 6. As I attempt to sync my iTunes library with my new phone, I find I already have 50.8 GB of Other. Restored the phone and it's still sitting there. Otherf***er.

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