Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

App sizes are out of control

mizxco

mizxco

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 17, 2014
748
260
Ever since Apple increased the cellular download limit to 100MB, apps sizes seem to have gone crazy!!

Is App thinning not applied? I'm not even talking about games but I mean Booking.com is 40MB, Twitter is 60MB, Skype is 76MB and TripAdvisor is 78MB.

These are web-based apps, they are often just a skin pulling real time data from the web.
 
While some things are more or less skins on web versions, I don't think Skype or Twitter are, for example. Realistically speaking something like 40 MB or 76 MB is hardly a lot these days, even for mobile apps.
 
C DM said:
While some things are more or less skins on web versions, I don't think Skype or Twitter are, for example. Realistically speaking something like 40 MB or 76 MB is hardly a lot these days, even for mobile apps.
Click to expand...

Facebook is 85MB!! It's function has stayed the same and I swear it was 2x MB previously.

It just seems like developers have given up on slimming down apps.
 
Facebook has gotten absurd, I am guessing because they've loaded up their actual site with so much crap that the app had to get so large... They've had to split it into 2 apps Just to chat with your friends (3+ if you count other minor things like Pages etc). But I agree a lot of apps have stopped slimming down.

What is super crazy is that Twitter is 83.8MBs.... While TweetBot (My preferred Twitter client) is on 7.3MBs... And it does so much more >_>
 
mizxco said:
Ever since Apple increased the cellular download limit to 100MB, apps sizes seem to have gone crazy!!

Is App thinning not applied? I'm not even talking about games but I mean Booking.com is 40MB, Twitter is 60MB, Skype is 76MB and TripAdvisor is 78MB.

These are web-based apps, they are often just a skin pulling real time data from the web.
Click to expand...

My answer for Twitter and Facebook is just to delete them. But, that's for a different thread, isn't it? You ask a very good question: What accounts for the huge discrepancies between apps, where, some very functional apps are a few MB, and, others are huge for some reason? Any app developers out willing to speak up?
 
  • Like
Reactions: miknos
jnpy!$4g3cwk said:
My answer for Twitter and Facebook is just to delete them. But, that's for a different thread, isn't it? You ask a very good question: What accounts for the huge discrepancies between apps, where, some very functional apps are a few MB, and, others are huge for some reason? Any app developers out willing to speak up?
Click to expand...

I swear Facebook went from 2x to 8x MB. Yet it functions exactly the same.
Apart from cache, which is labeled separated, I don't see a reason as the entire app is server based.
 
Spink10 said:
Was an article about app thinning not active yet because of an iCloud bug.
Click to expand...

Yep but it still applies.

Those apps were universal too when they were small, they're now 3x the size.
 
:D Facebook just released a 92 MB update as we speak. Messenger is 73 MB.

I wonder how much code they packed in those apps.
 
It is crazy how much space some apps take up. I sometimes use them, look at them and can't help but wonder just what the hell they are packing in there, because I'm pretty sure I'm not seeing it .
 
TrueBlou said:
It is crazy how much space some apps take up. I sometimes use them, look at them and can't help but wonder just what the hell they are packing in there, because I'm pretty sure I'm not seeing it .
Click to expand...

What annoys me is that those apps pull data from the Web.
If it's like a game with plenty of local graphics or plug-ins, be my guest.

But not Booking.com, almost every single media is downloaded on-the-fly!
 
mizxco said:
What annoys me is that those apps pull data from the Web.
If it's like a game with plenty of local graphics or plug-ins, be my guest.

But not Booking.com, almost every single media is downloaded on-the-fly!
Click to expand...


Exactly, what the heck are they doing with it all. I mean, I've got games out that with all the imagery, music and so on come in under 40MB, a productivity app that with all of its images, sounds for alerts, tons of icons for users to add in to their entries and it's less than 5MB.

I know my stuff isn't exactly up there with the big boys but c'mon, what the hell are they putting in there to get such big install sizes. There's something fishy going on :D
 
TrueBlou said:
Exactly, what the heck are they doing with it all. I mean, I've got games out that with all the imagery, music and so on come in under 40MB, a productivity app that with all of its images, sounds for alerts, tons of icons for users to add in to their entries and it's less than 5MB.

I know my stuff isn't exactly up there with the big boys but c'mon, what the hell are they putting in there to get such big install sizes. There's something fishy going on :D
Click to expand...

Code for Easily, pretty please? :rolleyes:
 
Totally ditched Facebook app and just use the site because it's pretty bulky. Facebook app has always been terrible and so clunky.
 
mizxco said:
Facebook is 85MB!! It's function has stayed the same and I swear it was 2x MB previously.

It just seems like developers have given up on slimming down apps.
Click to expand...


you're joking right? these are small app sizes....I have seen Facebook, instagram take up over 2gb on someone's phone before. The apps will grow in size as they cache more data, i.e. new feeds, photos, videos,

also I have seen many gigs in the Messages app as everyone seems to think they're old text messages are SOOOOO important, and their friends text them photos that they don't bother to save in camera roll. Delete your old texts, people...who really goes back and re-reads text messages?! can you tell this annoys me?!?!?

If you think Facebook functions stay the same, you must not be paying attention. Facebook puts out weekly updates that add/remove functionality....like that stupid marketplace thing they put in there recently
 
zaaach48 said:
you're joking right? these are small app sizes....I have seen Facebook, instagram take up over 2gb on someone's phone before. The apps will grow in size as they cache more data, i.e. new feeds, photos, videos,

also I have seen many gigs in the Messages app as everyone seems to think they're old text messages are SOOOOO important, and their friends text them photos that they don't bother to save in camera roll. Delete your old texts, people...who really goes back and re-reads text messages?! can you tell this annoys me?!?!?

If you think Facebook functions stay the same, you must not be paying attention. Facebook puts out weekly updates that add/remove functionality....like that stupid marketplace thing they put in there recently
Click to expand...
Well, to be fair, there's a difference between the app size itself (and even the compressed installer) and the app data, which gets associated with the app, but isn't really part of the app itself (as far as how much the app would take up when freshly installed, for example).

This applies that much more to something like Messages and Mail, for example, where pretty much the majority of the space is from data. Whatever someone decides as far as how much they store or why they do it, that's really up to them as everyone does all kinds of things in life differently, and certainly something like that really doesn't affect anyone else.
 
C DM said:
Well, to be fair, there's a difference between the app size itself (and even the compressed installer) and the app data, which gets associated with the app, but isn't really part of the app itself (as far as how much the app would take up when freshly installed, for example).

This applies that much more to something like Messages and Mail, for example, where pretty much the majority of the space is from data. Whatever someone decides as far as how much they store or why they do it, that's really up to them as everyone does all kinds of things in life differently, and certainly something like that really doesn't affect anyone else.
Click to expand...

True I wish there was an option to clear the cached app data without having to delete and re-install the app entirely.

In terms of the storage issue, it definitely affected me and all the other customers when I worked at the Genius Bar! I was the one that had to sit there and wait while some college kid went through all their stupid texts and selfies deciding which ones were most important before swapping their phone out. Ever wonder why the Genius Bar is always running behind? Because we have to wait for people to back up their data (no one EVER backs up, apparently the information is not really important until you find out you might lose it), or freak out on us about their data they didn't back up, or multi task and help other customers while the last one goes through their crap until we are so stressed out we call out sick the next day, completing the vicious cycle.

If people actually paid attention and educated themselves and managed their data BEFORE there was a problem, then we would all be better off
 
zaaach48 said:
If people actually paid attention and educated themselves and managed their data BEFORE there was a problem, then we would all be better off
Click to expand...
Well, realistically speaking, that applies to a whole lot more than just that, and is really a much bigger and more broad type of a concept.
 
C DM said:
Well, realistically speaking, that applies to a whole lot more than just that, and is really a much bigger and more broad type of a concept.
Click to expand...

True, I have a tendency to procrastinate in most aspects of my life but at least computers are easy to manage
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back