S3 Storage mysteriously filling up

[Runs For Fun]

I keep getting the message that my S3 watch storage is full but there's nothing that would explain what is taking up all of the space. I don't have any music, photos, or podcasts synced. I only have a handful of apps installed on the watch. I've unpaired and re-paired my watch a couple of times now and initially it has plenty of free space; about 4GB. But after 3-4 days it ends up completely full again. The Usage screen is of no help as there's nothing that explains the usage. I'm already down to just 50MB after re-pairing it a few days ago.

 

[ScreenSavers]

That happened to me too. I finally got a Series 5, which is 32GB. Never figured out what was taking space but there was no room for updates.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Got a case open with Apple Support. They’re passing the information on to the engineers. We’ll see what happens.

 

[dribeiro]

Hi @FuturePilot, did you ever get an update on this? I’m having the same issue.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Hi @FuturePilot, did you ever get an update on this? I’m having the same issue.

They told me it’s a WatchOS bug and there was supposed to be an update that would fix it but it’s still happening to me too and there was a couple updates since I was told that. I’m considering raising the issue again.

 

[TheSkywalker77]

I’m considering raising the issue again.

You definitely should.

 

[dribeiro]

They told me it’s a WatchOS bug and there was supposed to be an update that would fix it but it’s still happening to me too and there was a couple updates since I was told that. I’m considering raising the issue again.

Thanks, I also contacted Apple support about a week ago and was told it would be fixed in an update as well. I didn’t have the most confidence in that answer as it was never escalated beyond the first level of support. So I’m happy to at least see somebody else was told to the same thing after the issue was escalated.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Well knock on wood, but it seems like WatchOS 6.2 may have fixed it. My free space has been consistently around 900MB-1.1GB. Still doesn't seem like much considering I don't have that many apps on my watch and no music, photos, or podcasts. But I haven't gotten the storage is full message since 6.2.

 

[makleod]

Bumping this to see if anyone else is still experiencing this? I have gotten two "storage full" alerts in the past week (which results in a huge battery drain). On WatchOS 6.2.1. I'm about to wipe and start from scratch...😭

 

[Runs For Fun]

Aaaaand I just got the storage full notification. Guess it's time to open another case.

 

[ry-guy]

Aaaaand I just got the storage full notification. Guess it's time to open another case.

please reopen another case. I reported the feedback to Apple but i keep getting this notification. No music, photos, apps, even deleted my messages off it.

 

[iamasmith]

Here's a thing to try, and an explanation.

Delete your 3rd party apps from the watch then restart and use it like that for at least 3 days then check the space in use.

My theory is that you have a badly behaved application that is leaving temporary files behind and according to iOS documentation it takes 3 days for iOS to clean these files up. https://developer.apple.com/library...s.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40010672-CH3-SW1

 

[Runs For Fun]

Here's a thing to try, and an explanation.

Delete your 3rd party apps from the watch then restart and use it like that for at least 3 days then check the space in use.

My theory is that you have a badly behaved application that is leaving temporary files behind and according to iOS documentation it takes 3 days for iOS to clean these files up. https://developer.apple.com/library...s.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40010672-CH3-SW1

Thanks I will try this. If it doesn't help I will open a new case with Apple.

 

[ry-guy]

Just an update, i set up the watch as new(it actually got stuck in the recovery mode for a day which sucked.) But i decided to erase the watch and set up as new. This has worked so far, just an option in case anyone else on this thread has the issue.

 

[dribeiro]

Unfortunately for me, erasing the watch and setting it up as new has not fixed my issue. I even restored my phone and set that up as new as well. The available storage on my watch will be under 1GB despite not having any apps, music, or podcasts synced to it.

The only constant I can think of is my Apple ID. My guess is there’s some data tied to my Apple ID that gets synced over that doesn’t appear in General > Usage. I have no guesses as to what this is. I was thinking of making a new Apple ID and setting up my watch with that to see what happens.

Just a few observations I’ve noticed... Rebooting my watch will usually get it back to ~800MB available after it hits 0 bytes. Additionally, streaming songs in the Music app (songs that aren’t synced to the watch) for an hour or so will get my storage up to about 1.6 GB. My guess is there are some temp files that watchOS isn’t cleaning up until it needs space to store the songs I’m streaming.

I contacted Apple support again back in March and asked if my issue could be escalated to engineering. They captured some logs and a week later the support agent told me that engineering was currently investigating reports of this issue and to keep an eye out for software updates. Since then, 6.2 and 6.2.5 have been released and still no luck.

I encourage anybody who is having this issue to contact Apple support. Hopefully, more people reporting this can get them the data they need to fix this problem.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Deleting all apps didn’t fix the issue for me. I just got off the phone with Apple again. They said the engineers are aware of this issue and are still working on fixing it. They said again that it will be fixed in a future update. sigh. Seems like there’s not much that can be done at this point besides restarting my watch every couple of days. I would suggest anyone with this issue contact Apple support. The more reports they get about this, the better.

 

[ry-guy]

Deleting all apps didn’t fix the issue for me. I just got off the phone with Apple again. They said the engineers are aware of this issue and are still working on fixing it. They said again that it will be fixed in a future update. sigh. Seems like there’s not much that can be done at this point besides restarting my watch every couple of days. I would suggest anyone with this issue contact Apple support. The more reports they get about this, the better.

Yeah mine just started doing it again after a week. So lame. It drains the battery more too as well i think. Also annoying to raise your wrist and see your storage is full.🙄

 

[Runs For Fun]

Yeah mine just started doing it again after a week. So lame. It drains the battery more too as well i think. Also annoying to raise your wrist and see your storage is full.

Yep I’ve also noticed it seems to cause excessive battery drain. It sucks when you’re in the middle of a workout and get it. If you have it locked you have to unlock it to dismiss the message.

 

[sixtydashone]

I've got this happening now, too. I've got hardly anything on the watch, literally the only app installed on it is Cyclemeter which is only 6.6MB. The watch said 0 bytes available this morning. I rebooted the watch and it now says 95.1MB available. My best guess is the devs have allowed the OS to bloat over time, or it's not doing garbage collection properly, or something like that. Hope they can fix it soon. This is a frustrating issue.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Let’s see if 6.2.8 fixes it.

 

[dribeiro]

@FuturePilot It didn’t for me. Although I had about 3.0GB of available storage the entire afternoon after I installed the 6.2.8 update. When I woke up the next morning, back down to about 800 MB. Reboot gets me back to 1.4 GB of available storage.

So, for me, no change in behavior with the new update.

 

[ISprainedMyUvula]

Same here, and it's really driving me crazy. This has been happening through 2 software updates: two opportunities to fix this.

And not to be tinfoil hat-ish, but I believe it's a tracking feature. I can be around my apartment for days and it's fine, but the day I have go out and about walking to do errands is when it fills up. It usually takes 7-8 hours of going places to fill up. If I monitor it throughout the day, you can see it go down by about 500mb an hour.

The problem doesn't fix itself in subsequent days, the watch remains full and you have to either erase and restore, or set up as new again. When the watch is restored it says 3.8gb of 4.7 available. Everything is normal again until the next time you leave the house and travel throughout the city.

I have turned off all music, and have about eight photos on this thing. 3 apps.

W. T. F.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Yep not fixed. Mine has filled up already. This is super irritating!

 

[glicky63]

Hi all! Just wanted to say that I'm also having this issue with my Series 3. It's been ongoing for months and I've unpaired and re-paired from backups which would last a month or two and then it would happen all over again. Finally I was getting the message after re-pairing the next day! Spoke with Apple Support over the phone who had me unpair and pair as new. Storage was full again the next afternoon. Spoke with them again yesterday and they've said "the engineers are working on it."

My watch is effectively useless as I'm sure you all know. They wanted me to try to pair the watch with another iPhone, which I can't do but also seems useless if I'm trying to actually use the thing. They said I could go into a store to have them run diagnostics or have it potentially replaced, but of course no Apple Stores in my area are taking Genius Bar appointments because of COVID. I said it seemed like a Series 3 problem (from what I've seen on Apple forums with no resolution) so they should replace with another one or a Series 4, but the Support person just kept saying it was out of warranty and to just hold out for an update. I get their perspective on a software issue and not wanting to replace it, but saying "hold tight indefinitely and by the way we won't actually contact you to let you know it should be fixed" was just the worst ending to useless hours on the phone.

Definitely frustrated, but good to know I'm not alone. Please continue to post updates!

 

[satinsilverem2]

Ive been having this issue with my S3 for a year now. I started having it with WatchOS 6 and even on the Developer Beta of WatchOS 7 im still running into this issue. The only way ive been able to get around it is to unpair and repair the watch which is a huge pain and the free space is gone within two days again and back to square one. The annoying part is if I go to put music or another app it will show plenty of free space but if I go to install an update it will tell me that I have no space available even though there is plenty most of the time. Im thinking that this is deeper than just a software bug but maybe a SOC issue.