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fiatlux

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 5, 2007
356
148
Now that I exclusively use iCloud for my iPhone/iPad backups and only connect them to my computer for the very occasional picture download, can I safely delete the apps stored by iTunes on my computer? They seem to take a few gigs for no obvious purpose...
 
Yes. You can always redownload them later.

It may also be useful to go to the app list in iTunes and sort them by size. If you are like me, you may find that the bulk of the apps are pretty small, and only a small number (mostly games ;)) take up the bulk of the space.
 
I personally would NOT do that, as Apple and the individual companies that own/develop the apps have the right to remove apps from the store AT ANY TIME they choose.
Meaning, that app you still find useful, yet is not in the store anymore, won't be able to be gotten back.

The same is true for all media (music/movies/podcasts/etc.) — just last week Disney unexpectedly removed content people had paid for (some controversy about what was/is going on with that). But they're far from the only ones to do such things.

Protect yourself by keeping copies. Why I keep a copy of everything on my Mac Mini (I use it as a centralised server type of thing: all iTunes, all Plex, all my docs, available all the time), using some decent Tbolt external storage (and backed-up properly). Saves me the bother of problems all the time.

But do what's best for you, of course.
 
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