Is there a way to clean up data without restore and backup?

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Level 1

12 points

Is there a way to clean up data without restore and backup?

I noticed recently that too much data is being silently stored on my iPad possibly be apps and caches.

Isn't iOS supposed to clean up data as it needs free storage?

most recently, according to usage in settings > general, I had 1.8 GB of free space. I wanted to install an app that is 2GB in size. iOS told me there was not enough free space. I could not find what used so much data, and frankly this time the list of apps in settings > general > usage proved to be pointless. Adding the numbers together of how much space the apps were using up was nowhere near enough to leave me with only 1.8 GB of free space.

I did a backup, then restored my iPad. After that, I restored the backup with all apps and data I had before. Now I have 7.2 GB free space. 5.4 GB of temporary and junk files, with no way of erasing them, is quite frustrating.

Anyone knows a solution or shall I just restore my iPad pretty much every 2-3 weeks? (Yes, the last 5 or 6 restores I have performed were solely for freeing up storage space that mysteriously keep being filled up.)

Additionally, how do I find out which apps use up so much space when settings > general > usage doesn't tell me anything? Only how much space the app itself needs and how much permanent (user generated) data is being stored. Such as pictures, save game files, and so on, but nothing about cache sizes temporary data.

PS: if the above was asked and answered before, please accept my apologies and could you link me the topic it has been resolved in?

iPad mini (Retina) Wi-Fi, iOS 8

Posted on Oct 10, 2014 6:11 PM

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Answer 1

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Demo

Level 10

166,494 points

Oct 10, 2014 6:23 PM in response to Bluerain12ya

I Think that the temporary and junk files that you are decribing are the "other" data that your iPad stores. If it balloons out of control, typically that indicates corruption in an app or apps on your iPad. If it keeps coming back when you restore your backup, that really indicates to me that it is something getting corrupted. Restoring works temporarily, but if the backup is corrupt. The "other" data will just increase again over time. Sometimes the only way to get rid of that bloated "other" data is to restore your iPad as new and not use the backup.

There are third party apps that claim to be able to clean the cached files on your iPad but I have never used one and wouldn't know what to recommend. I'm sure a Google search would help you find such apps.

The only way to see the size of "other" data is by using iTunes on your computer. You cannot see which apps are causing it and that's why one of the third party apps might be useful, if they actually work.

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Answer 2

Bluerain12ya Author

Level 1

12 points

Oct 11, 2014 8:40 PM in response to Demo

Hi! And thanks for hour reply!

It sounds sensible. Since the last restore which was just over a day at the time of me writing this reply, there is over 1GB of data unaccounted for. Note that I have not installed new apps, nor DLCs within games. The two I have been using heavily are Netflix and Youtube, both of which should automatically erase temporary data. Or so they claim.

however,

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Answer 3

Bluerain12ya Author

Level 1

12 points

Oct 11, 2014 9:02 PM in response to Demo

Hi! And thanks for your reply!

It sounds sensible. Since the last restore which was just over a day at the time of me writing this reply, there is over 1GB of data unaccounted for. Note that I have not installed new apps, nor DLCs within games. The two I have been using heavily are Netflix and Youtube, both of which should automatically erase temporary data. Or so they claim.

However, there was a period when I had my iPad on charger overnight. When I woke up, just out of curiosity I checked the usage statistics and I found my free space was about 200 MB less than when I checked immediately before goong to bed. So the iPad was not used at all and somehow I lost 200MB.

I did try a software for Windows called Phone Clean, but that didn't help. Before the restore, I ran a deep scan, and it only cleaned up about 500MB of data even though there was nearly 5GB unaccounted for. I performed the restore, and that was when I thought this is beyond me, and posted this topic.

I have also noticed that when I watch a movie with the Videos app by streaming from iTunes instead of downloading, after watching it, the storage will not get freed up. The movie is still there (as confirmed by trying to actually download another that was larger than the current free space, then the previous movie file was indeed deleted by iOS automatically) but it does not show up in usage > videos. According to iOS the Videos.app has no data within.

I'll try a full reset soon and see how it goes. Obviously it will take some time to test it, but I'll let you know of any results. Luckily, I don't have many apps that don't use iCloud storage so their data should be there despite dropping the backup, and installing them clean should be easy using iTunes on a PC.

If that doesn't help, I go one step further and download the apps one by one.

Well, there is plan.

To be honest, it would really be helpful if we could see individual app containers as that way we can easily find out which app is being naughty.

Any way, thanks for the tip! Give me a couple of days and I'll let you know how it went.

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