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ilikewhey

macrumors 68040
Original poster
May 14, 2014
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nyc upper east
I’m on vacation and I’m running out of storage on my phone, I do have 200gb if iCloud but if I delete stuff on phone it gets deleted on iCloud as well, is there a way to delete videos on the phone but still keep a copy on iCloud
 
I’m on vacation and I’m running out of storage on my phone, I do have 200gb if iCloud but if I delete stuff on phone it gets deleted on iCloud as well, is there a way to delete videos on the phone but still keep a copy on iCloud
You'll want to be sure you have Photos set to use optimized storage. There's no manual controls, unfortunately.
 
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The cloud and your phone are synchronized. They are the same. Download to your PC and then delete from your phone. That's the way to free up space.
 
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You'll want to be sure you have Photos set to use optimized storage. There's no manual controls, unfortunately.
This.

My Photos library is currently clocking in at 1.1 TB. On my iPhone with "Optimize iPhone Storage" turned on, it's currently using 22 GB.

I wish iOS would provide "minimum storage" option, just like the Music app (shouldn't it be called "maximum size"?).
 
iCloud is not just an online storage system. It’s also a syncing mechanism. Basically Apple’s idea is that users don’t need to worry about local / cloud storage. If you pay for iCloud then everything should automatically work and all you should feel like is iCloud is an extension of your local storage. Turning on optimise storage is your best option.
 
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My optimized storage is turned on, I’m on vacation and don’t have access to my pc.

In that case keep the device connected to a charging point and also with WiFi. It should automatically push photos to iCloud at night.
 
In that case keep the device connected to a charging point and also with WiFi. It should automatically push photos to iCloud at night.
My iCloud is synced to the latest photo, my problem is I’m out of storage on my phone but I have 60gb free on iCloud, I’m wondering if I can delete stuffs on iPhone and not have iCloud delete it too
 
My iCloud is synced to the latest photo, my problem is I’m out of storage on my phone but I have 60gb free on iCloud, I’m wondering if I can delete stuffs on iPhone and not have iCloud delete it too
Deleting anything from your phone will delete those files in iCloud as well.
 
If it was me, I would upgrade the iCloud storage to the 2TB level ($9.99) for the time was on vacation... then clean up the media/data in Cloud storage and then drop back to the 200GB plan.
 
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My iCloud is synced to the latest photo, my problem is I’m out of storage on my phone but I have 60gb free on iCloud, I’m wondering if I can delete stuffs on iPhone and not have iCloud delete it too

If optimise storage is turned on then you shouldn’t need to manage any storage. The OS will automatically handle the cleanup, provided your phone stays on charge at night and is connected to wifi.
 
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Not only photos take space. Look into Settings --> General --> iPhone Storage. Check the recommendations there, and traverse each item to free space, like music, large attachments, etc.
 
If it was me, I would upgrade the iCloud storage to the 2TB level ($9.99) for the time was on vacation... then clean up the media/data in Cloud storage and then drop back to the 200GB plan.
I don’t see how that solve my issue, my iCloud have 60gb free, it’s my iPhone storage that’s running out, and apparently a decision at Apple is made that iCloud storage cannot be Independent from phone storage. If I delete a video from phone it gets deleted from my iCloud,

so far I believe I found a solution, google photo is independent from iPhone syncs, 100gb for 1.99 seems like a good deal and I can back up all the videos on there for the time being and all the photos under 16m is free
 
I don’t see how that solve my issue, my iCloud have 60gb free, it’s my iPhone storage that’s running out, and apparently a decision at Apple is made that iCloud storage cannot be Independent from phone storage. If I delete a video from phone it gets deleted from my iCloud,

so far I believe I found a solution, google photo is independent from iPhone syncs, 100gb for 1.99 seems like a good deal and I can back up all the videos on there for the time being and all the photos under 16m is free

If photos is syncing with iCloud properly then you shouldn’t need to worry about the phone storage. The OS handles it when it needs more storage. Personally I’ve been using the base model since last few years and I’ve never had this issue. How much storage have you got left on your phone?!
 
If photos is syncing with iCloud properly then you shouldn’t need to worry about the phone storage. The OS handles it when it needs more storage. Personally I’ve been using the base model since last few years and I’ve never had this issue. How much storage have you got left on your phone?!
Before I start deleting I got .5gb left, 127.5gb used out of 128, I’m on indefinite vacation since my flights back into the states keep getting cancelled cause of corona.
 
Before I start deleting I got .5gb left, 127.5gb used out of 128, I’m on indefinite vacation since my flights back into the states keep getting cancelled cause of corona.
Have you looked in Settings/General/iPhone Storage to be sure that it's photos that are taking up your phone storage?
 
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The way optimized storage works is when everything is uploaded to iCloud then it replaces your local photos on your phone with smaller images that are not full resolution. But only after everything is uploaded to the iCloud. That's why posters are recommending a few nights while plugged into power and on WiFi (hopefully not hotel wifi).
 
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If photos is syncing with iCloud properly then you shouldn’t need to worry about the phone storage. The OS handles it when it needs more storage. Personally I’ve been using the base model since last few years and I’ve never had this issue. How much storage have you got left on your phone?!
While "optimize storage" is supposed to do that for you, in practice, it's a mixed bag. On my 64GB iPhone, Photos app is still using about 22GB. Granted I have 1.1TB library, but it shouldn't be using that much.

Apple really needs to add "minimum storage" setting like Music app has.
 
While "optimize storage" is supposed to do that for you, in practice, it's a mixed bag. On my 64GB iPhone, Photos app is still using about 22GB. Granted I have 1.1TB library, but it shouldn't be using that much.

Apple really needs to add "minimum storage" setting like Music app has.

When you say it’s “shouldn’t be”, I guess that just depends on the type of things you have in your library. It doesn’t matter how much storage is being used by the app as long as the OS can cleanup when you need storage. Apple keeps some recent data on the device for ease of access.

It just seems people are trying to micromanage things that they don’t need to worry about.

I never had an issue with my devices and I have over 10000 images and videos in my library.
 
When you say it’s “shouldn’t be”, I guess that just depends on the type of things you have in your library. It doesn’t matter how much storage is being used by the app as long as the OS can cleanup when you need storage. Apple keeps some recent data on the device for ease of access.

It just seems people are trying to micromanage things that they don’t need to worry about.

I never had an issue with my devices and I have over 10000 images and videos in my library.
"Optimize storage" is a black box that sometimes works, but not always.

My 64GB iPhone currently has 8 GB free. If I try to...
  • Add a large 4K HDR movie to TV app, I will get out of space error.
  • Download several large apps, I will get out of space error.
  • Go on a vacation and take several 4K videos, I will get out of space error.
And so on.

My Photos app have never budged at or below 20GB which suggests every images and videos consume certain amount of storage and they cannot be freed up.
 
"Optimize storage" is a black box that sometimes works, but not always.

My 64GB iPhone currently has 8 GB free. If I try to...
  • Add a large 4K HDR movie to TV app, I will get out of space error.
  • Download several large apps, I will get out of space error.
  • Go on a vacation and take several 4K videos, I will get out of space error.
And so on.

My Photos app have never budged at or below 20GB which suggests every images and videos consume certain amount of storage and they cannot be freed up.

That’s interesting . On the other hand my free space never goes beyond 34-35GB and on my device it’s taking less than 3GB as you can see below.

1ef47b4019681fb059972efe7b0ee023.plist


Now I don’t know what individuals are storing on their devices or how they use their devices but it seems to be working as designed.

a2eebd8d1efe77b1e8a70be860758795.jpg
 
That’s interesting . On the other hand my free space never goes beyond 34-35GB and on my device it’s taking less than 3GB as you can see below.

...

Now I don’t know what individuals are storing on their devices or how they use their devices but it seems to be working as designed.
Not on my iPhone.

I think there's certain amount of overhead that "optimize storage" likes to hold on to. As I stated earlier, iOS has never reclaimed Photos storage below 20 GB, even when I am running low on available storage space.

iPhone Storage page:
iPhone Storage.png


My iCloud storage:
iCloud Storage.png
 
Not on my iPhone.

I think there's certain amount of overhead that "optimize storage" likes to hold on to. As I stated earlier, iOS has never reclaimed Photos storage below 20 GB, even when I am running low on available storage space.

iPhone Storage page:
View attachment 901482

My iCloud storage:
View attachment 901483

Are you on the latest iOS version - 13.4? As there is a specific bug fix related to photos using excessive storage.

  • Addresses an issue where Photos may appear to use excess storage
 
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Are you on the latest iOS version - 13.4? Ad there is a specific bug fix related to photos using excessive storage.

  • Addresses an issue where Photos may appear to use excess storage
I am using iOS 13.4 and it has always been like this, even on my other devices like iPad.
 
I am using iOS 13.4 and it has always been like this, even on my other devices like iPad.

I’d keep an eye on the storage usage if I were you after the update. Maybe update us after a couple of days if you see any changes.
 
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