Preventing media files from auto deleting off drives?

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I have my iPhone and iPad setup to sync and auto download Apple Music files and any pictures or videos in my Photo library. Most of that time it doesn't really matter if that's happening or not, but I have a cabin I often go to that has no cellular or wifi service. That's when I find out files aren't stored on the drives. I also can't seem to determine how it's deciding what to keep on the drive and what to leave in the cloud.

I have lots of apps and media files but I have 256G drives and space really shouldn't be that much of an issue.

 

[Shirasaki]

Maybe make sure you turn on any “available for offline” options in Apple Music or photos app and ignore any and all “optimised for storage” options around apps and iOS.

I don’t use Apple Music so I cannot tell. But sometimes music is pulled from Apple Music due to like licensing issues.

 

[cynics]

Settings > Music > Optimize Storage > Toggle off
Settings > Music > Automatic Downloads > Toggle on

Settings > Photos > Download and Keep Originals > check on

Depending on the size of your library you'll want to do this a few days before you goto your cabin. It will download when you are on wifi and the device is plugged in so generally at night.

Depending on the size of your music and photo library you could fill the phones storage. I have a 64gb model, I'm using 20gb on the device. However my Photo library alone is 40-45gb.