iPhone 6(S)/Plus iOS Clean Install + Keep only the Photo Library

[1337F]

Hey guys,

my research has unfortunately not brought any results. I have always used backups when moving from one iOS and one iPhone to the next. Now, as my storage space gets smaller and smaller without any identifiable reason, I figured that a clean install would be the best solution to go with. However, I'd love to have my Photo Library on the "clean iPhone" exactly as I organized it before the installation (same order, sorted by years, months, days etc.)

Has anybody got an idea how I can achieve this? Thank you so much for an answer in advance.


Kind regards,
1337F

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Do you have your photos backed up using iCloud? If so, the library should restore itself when you sign back in to your recently reset phone. Everything should remain in the same order as before.

As for your storage woes, have you checked under Settings, General, iPhone Storage to see where the space is going? It should provide ways to free up space. Lots of times it’s text message attachments that start eating away space if you don’t have an expiration policy in place.

 

[davidmartindale]

Option 1: Use iCloud Photo Library - enable prior to restore, make sure it looks good at iCloud.com, erase iPhone, then setup as new and sign into Apple ID

Option 2: Import Photos to Photos on Mac, then erase iPhone, then use iTunes to sync the Photos Library to your iPhone

I would recommend option 1

 

[now i see it]

As mentioned above, go to Settings/General/iPhone Storage and check out which apps are hogging all the space. Click on an app (a big one) and you'll see the original size it was when you downloaded it and then the often enormous (documents & data) stated below.

Many apps, lots of them, create gigantic cache files that never get purged and never can be deleted. You'll likely find several offenders that don't have any data within the apps taking up over a GB in space doing nothing. The only way to purge the crap is to delete the app then download it again. Make sure it doesn't have any documents associated with it on your phone before deleting it.

This's is one of the major fails of iOS. Documents scattered all over the place inside app containers and apps generating huge hidden cache files. YouTube app is a prime offender.

 

[1337F]

Hey guys,

Thanks for your all of your fast replies! I will answer your questions below:

Do you have your photos backed up using iCloud?

No I don't. I only have the basic subscription of iCloud of 5GB. I just have them backed up regularly in iTunes (iPhone Backup) as I manage them just on my iPhone so far.

where the space is going?

The bar "other" is quite large and it is not identifiable which apps or files use the space. The system files seem to take up quite a large amount too (12GB).

Click on an app (a big one) and you'll see the original size it was when you downloaded it and then the often enormous (documents & data) stated below.

Tried that but somehow in my case the sizes are not too far from each other.

Is there any other alternative besides buying iCloud Storage? Thank you in advance!

1337F

 

[darngooddesign]

It's easy:

1. Copy your photos over to your computer
2. Reset phone
3. Copy them back to the phone.

The exact method depends on what you want to do with them when they are back on your phone.

If it's just viewing them use iTunes to sync them over because they will take up less space since iTunes syncs a smaller, optimized size. You can also use this opportunity to create albums in OSX Photos to organize them further.

If you want to keep them in your camera roll so you can edit without duplicating them they use Airdrop to move them back over.

Also maybe consider using iCloud Photo Library.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Hey guys,

Thanks for your all of your fast replies! I will answer your questions below:


No I don't. I only have the basic subscription of iCloud of 5GB. I just have them backed up regularly in iTunes (iPhone Backup) as I manage them just on my iPhone so far.


The bar "other" is quite large and it is not identifiable which apps or files use the space. The system files seem to take up quite a large amount too (12GB).


Tried that but somehow in my case the sizes are not too far from each other.

Is there any other alternative besides buying iCloud Storage? Thank you in advance!

1337F

I just have the $0.99/mo 50GB plan. I use it as another way to backup my photo library. It’s also nice if you own multiple Apple products and want access to your photo library on all of them.

 

[1337F]

1. Copy your photos over to your computer
2. Reset phone
3. Copy them back to the phone.

Will they still be in the same order (i.e. the newest images at the very bottom of the camera roll)?

I just have the $0.99/mo 50GB plan. I use it as another way to backup my photo library.

That sounds reasonable. I will definitely try that if darngooddesign's method disarranges the pictures in the camera roll thank you.

 

[darngooddesign]

Will they still be in the same order (i.e. the newest images at the very bottom of the camera roll)?

They're usually organized by date taken. Consider this a good opportunity to keep your photos organized, which is something people overlook until their photos are gone. You can also create smart albums which contain everything from a certain time period.

 

[1337F]

@darngooddesign Okay perfect. So I will proceed as follows:

1. Backup my iPhone
2. Copy the pictures off my phone separately
3. Clean install iOS
4. Drag the photos back on the phone (via Finder/Explorer?)

After this process my newly configured iPhone should show the pictures in the order as before? Thanks in advance for your reply.

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

@darngooddesign Okay perfect. So I will proceed as follows:

1. Backup my iPhone
2. Copy the pictures off my phone separately
3. Clean install iOS
4. Drag the photos back on the phone (via Finder/Explorer?)

After this process my newly configured iPhone should show the pictures in the order as before? Thanks in advance for your reply.

They won't be in your camera roll AFAIK. You want to follow this:

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2014/03/06/how-to-back-up-restore-sms-messages/

I know this is for Messages. The photos restore is in the comments:

I've tried a lot of methods, but this one works, just backup "SystemFiles/CameraRollDomain/Media" and "SystemFiles/MediaDomain/Media/PhotoStreamsData".

You can follow the guide for the rest of it.

 

[darngooddesign]

They will be in your camera roll if you airdrop them from your Mac to your phone. The camera roll will show the order you airdropped them, but the photo library will show by the capture date. To be frank, you would be wise to use Photos to organize your photos and then sync them over. You photos won’t be in you’d camera roll, but the will be in your photos library.

 

[1337F]

Hey guys, so unfortunately the iBackUpBot does not work on iOS 11 in general.

Which other solutions are there (maybe similar to iBackUpBot)? Will it work with iMazing? Or can I maybe transfer them back on my clean installed iPhone with the Mac Photos App, where the Photo Library etc. is in?

 

[cynics]

It should be mentioned "Other" is mostly cached data. If you aren't using all the storage on your iOS device then iOS will. A lot of data is cached to remove the reliance on networks so the phone is faster, uses less data and is more efficient. A lot of the data will never be used again however its removed with time and/or as space is needed.

I restored my iPad as new on Monday night (4 days ago) for other reasons and currently have 7gb of Other being used. So regardless of what you do this "Other" space will come back very quickly.

Personally I prefer iCloud Photo Library, yes it cost 1 dollar a month for enough storage for me but the convenience outweighs the expensive. You could just wipe the phone right now and be done with it.

You should be able to sync your photos to iTunes and transfer them back no? You'll lose live photo data doing this I believe.