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tomwebster99

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 18, 2009
14
0
Hi,

Have recently downloaded the new GTA iPhone app and it is really good apart from the space it used on my device.

The app claims to be 188Mb and the download file is this size on my PC and iTunes reports the app as being this size on the device.

However when I install it, the available space on my device decreases by about 680Mb. The majority of the change in storage usage is reported as 'Other' in iTunes.

Is anyone else having this problem?

Strangely the first time I downloaded the app from the iTunes store on my phone it actually downloaded a 680Mb application and transferred it to my PC at this size. I have since deleted and re-downloaded the app and the resulting download had a different name (now suffixed 1.0) and the file is 188Mb.

It still seems to use up 680Mb of available space on my phone though.

Is it just me or has anyone else seem this behaviour. Not sure what else I can do to resolve this other than trying a full restore and re-downloading and installing the app again. Don't want to do this unless is it likely to free up the mystery 500Mb of 'wasted' space.

Tom
 
The app is compressed then extracts itself when you install it to the phone. The 188MB is size of the download, not the app.
 
Bits vs Bytes

The app is compressed then extracts itself when you install it to the phone. The 188mb is size of the download, not the app.

Hi, guys. Please be aware that 188mb (megabits) is not the same as 188MB (megabytes). The capital B (bytes) is what you're talking about here. The lower case b (bits) indicates 1/8 the amount of data so 188mb is only 23.5MB (megabytes) and that's clearly not what you meant.

I mention this not to nitpick but for clarity since you're specifically talking about confusing data storage issues in this topic.
 
Hi, guys. Please be aware that 188mb (megabits) is not the same as 188MB (megabytes). The capital B (bytes) is what you're talking about here. The lower case b (bits) indicates 1/8 the amount of data so 188mb is only 23.5MB (megabytes) and that's clearly not what you meant.

I mention this not to nitpick but for clarity since you're specifically talking about confusing data storage issues in this topic.
You're right but the context of the thread isn't even referring to data transmission. Just simply a typo.
 
So typos aside, it is normal for the app to use 680MB of space on my device and for the majority of this to reported as 'Other' storage usage rather than 'Applictions' under iTunes?
 
Thanks. Slightly misleading though that the app is advertised as one size whereas you need nearly four times as much free space on your device to actually install and use it.
 
Thanks. Slightly misleading though that the app is advertised as one size whereas you need nearly four times as much free space on your device to actually install and use it.

Its not misleading though. It says the download is 188, and thats what it is in dl size. You're a tad picky ain't ya?
 
Not picky in my opinion :)

Surely once the size of an app gets above that which you can download over 3G then it gets irrelevant what the download size is. Its is more relevant whether the app will actually fit on your phone and how much storage you are willing to give up to use it.

In my case I first tried to install the app with about 500MB free on my device. I saw the 188MB download size and assumed this would be ok but of course in actual fact there wasn't enough room to install it so I had to delete some other stuff first.

I appreciate that both sizes are relevant so perhaps it would be better to publish both bits of information.

Anyway, its on now, it works and its a great game so probably isn't an issue worth debating further!
 
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