Level 1

5 points

Podcast Storage Mystery

With the new update, Podcast storage just seems like this mysterious storage-hungry monster that can't be contained. Right now I've got 400 mb dedicated to storing Podcasts, and I can't figure out which ones they are since *everything* is just in one big heap called "my podcasts." Everything I pick out of it just has the cloud icon showing it's stored online.

I already have the settings in place to not automatically download *anything* and delete played episodes, but there seems to be no way to browse stuff that is currently stored on my phone. The crazy / dumb part is you used to be able to do this really easily.

For cheapskates like me who only buy the 16 gb iPhone, this is awful.

Or am I just dumb and there's a way to do it after after all?

Posted on Oct 12, 2015 2:54 PM

Top-ranking reply

cpk4

Level 1

23 points

Posted on Dec 10, 2015 6:58 AM

I found a solution that helped! I had the same problem as you - over 1GB in "Documents and Data" in the Podcasts app.

Copy over a bunch of music or other content - enough that it fills up all the space on your phone, including all the space that should be freed from the podcasts Documents+Data. The phone will automatically clear out that space in order to fit all the music. You should get an "out of space" warning as the phone is completely full. Then delete those songs and the unused space from Podcasts is restored. Finally!!! Restored over 1GB of space from the Podcasts app.

Found the answer from this thread - Re: Storage data different on iPhone and iTunes

View in context

56 replies

Feb 9, 2016 3:02 AM in response to firehawk12

Yes. Keep running it no matter what. 10 or 15 times. It should get there.

Feb 9, 2016 3:14 AM in response to keithburton16

Thanks. Sometimes it doesn't find anything, and sometimes it cleans 20 megs... since I have 6 gigs in the podcast documents, it'll take forever ,but at least it's better than nothing. lol

Feb 9, 2016 4:05 AM in response to firehawk12

Keep trying and let us know how you get on I cleared 2gb from my iPhone and more than 3gb from my iPad.

JJT2

Level 1

0 points

Feb 9, 2016 11:09 AM in response to keithburton16

Thank you for the suggestion. It worked but it took many more tries than 15 to get it to clean my podcasts. So I advise anyone trying to be patient.

Feb 9, 2016 11:14 AM in response to JJT2

Yes, its pain but it does work in the end. Run it through once a day to stay on top of it and it should be fine.

Mar 4, 2016 6:46 AM in response to keithburton16

Thank you! The app helped. It took me way more than 20 attempts, but finally the data was erased and the Podcasts app shrinked from 2.4 GB to 72 MB.

Altogether, I recovered 4 GB of space.

May 7, 2016 7:47 PM in response to rimv

Removed all podcasts from iPhone 6, made sure nothing syncs with my MBP, and rebooted the phone. the Podcasts app still takes 1.4 GB on my phone.

😠

Jun 17, 2016 2:54 PM in response to keithburton16

I'm having the same problem. I have bought the app that you suggest but I can't see the 'Junk' function. Please could you tell me where it is?

Rich4rd

Level 1

4 points

Sep 15, 2016 12:17 AM in response to danforshaw

That is very good news! probably a lot less time consuming than syncing stuff and filling up the iOS device with data.

AlexJJJ

Level 1

4 points

Jan 4, 2017 11:52 AM in response to rimv

I've just figured out a solution.

In iOS10, simply DELETE the podcast app and you'll get rid of the mysterious storage. You can then re-install it from the App Store if you want.

Feel like Apple is not willing to improve this product because it's not profitable.

May 5, 2017 1:55 PM in response to AlexJJJ

I went through this whole issue before and I ended up deleting the Podcast app and reinstalling. I didn't want to go through this again, so I went on the hunt for an app that will work. Today I downloaded an app called Memory&Disk RAM Scanner Pro (Phan Minh Nhut) which was free. The first time I used it, it didn't clear out the Podcast Documents & Data, but it worked the second time I scanned, and then scanned again for good measure. I went from 2.76 GB to 131.1 MB. Magic! Thank goodness, I really don't understand why this is such an issue with Apple, but this one works, so grab it before it disappears.

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Podcast Storage Mystery