Try watching some of your iCloud movies on your iPhone/iPad and watch how your free space goes down. This is a real annoyance as I have many movies and TV shows and only 16GB's units. Its such a problem that I have subscribed to Netflix where I can stream movies and TV shows without my space running out on my IOS device. I sure wish Apple will get up to date with their streaming video service.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I hope this annoyance is gone from iOS 10
- Thread starter jwolf6589
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Well to be fair, it isn't a streaming service.
You can stream iCloud movies (movies you've added from Digital Copies, or purchased through iTunes) But unfortunately for the OP it caches data. Fortunately for the OP cache is always cleared as space is needed automatically.
Why does it have to cache data? Why does the Netflix app not do the same (thankfully)?
Just in case network speed is not fast enough to let you "read data on a remote hard drive just like reading data on a local hard drive ". Hope you can understand this mindset.
And I am sure Netflix does the same. The size is smaller though.
Just a wild guess here. Netflix doesn't have to since it has variable image quality depending on how fast your connections is. Apple videos is a set quality that is not flexible so it has to cache to not stutter in case of the quality of the connection getting worse.
For one thing Apple has complete control over the OS. So Apple can clear the cache whenever you need that space. So you shouldn't stress over what the numbers say since this space is available for you as you need it.
But how do you know what space is taken up by the cache, and what space is truly unavailable? Is there a easy way to find out? If not, it makes it difficult to manage space.
If you start getting space warnings it's probably not just cache. If you don't get space warnings you don't need to manage anything.
Then it may use the same technology as YouTube uses. Variable bit rate to accomodate with bandwidth.
Do I need to delete older podcasts before downloading the next one? How many more minutes of video can I take? Do I need to delete this 1GB app, or will deleting the 500mb one be enough? There are plenty of reasons for needing to know the exact amount of free space you have.
Unlike Youtube Apple keeps the picture and sound quality consistent. Most people who buy movies and shows want the quality to be equal to what they paid for.
That must be why when I try and play a video on my iOS device via iCloud it buffers quite a bit because I have a standard WIFI router. But have never had this problem with Netflix.
Exactly why Netflix did that. They found that getting a show started quickly was very important and that most shows have intro credits etc that people don't care about. Quality starts low but ramps up very quickly. End result was happier customers.
Keep in mind Apple can't do this since people are buying. Doing this could (likely would) lead to a class action suit.
The end result is I only watch movies on my Mac purchased via iCloud but with Netflix I can watch all the Twilight Zone (besides season 4) and Star Trek I want on all my devices and it starts off where I left off. It's cool as it even works over LTE. However 3G buffers quite a bit.