Memory Usage

[J. A.]

Johanna, thanks so that is in aggregate rather by app. Is the geen bar apps? ...

The green bar could be Photos. I remember that they use the second most storage on my device. I didn't look at it in iTunes, though.

 

[n4uau]

Johanna,
Just noticed your screen shot shows icloud info. I'm looking at on iPad memory usage general/ usage and not iCloud/storage usage. Most of the apps I was referencing are not backed up on iCloud FB, DropBox etc so we may be talking apples and oranges here.

 

[J. A.]

My screenshot shows that my iPad usually is backed up to iCloud.

I could have cropped that info, it's not necessary. The important part is the bar at the bottom which shows the usage on my device, with Other included. We're talking about the same. I didn't look at my iCloud backup.

 

[n4uau]

My screenshot shows that my iPad usually is backed up to iCloud.I could have cropped that info, it's not necessary. The important part is the bar at the bottom which shows the usage on my device, with Other included. We're talking about the same. I didn't look at my iCloud backup.

Johanna, got i! I misunderstood that checked box. Not spoken or read German in 30+ years- bit rusty. :-(

 

[J. A.]

No problem.

 

[n4uau]

Wow! I just reinstalled AP Mobile and USA Today. AP WAS 222 Mb total -data 213 before and 20mb -11data after. USA Today 121, 95 going to 31.6, 5.8. With just those 5 apps I've gained back close to a Gb.

And no one cares but Johanna? Maybe you guys didn't work with computers in the 60's when we thought it was a big advance to upgrade to 1 Megabyte of memory on our room size IBM 360.

 

[n4uau]

My last post failed to take but I just reinstalled AP News and USA Today and freed up 300Mb more. A total of about a Gb for all 5 apps.

Wonder why others aren't interested. This is significant memory savings. Of course I was into computers in the 60s when our IBM 360 was upgraded to 1Megabyte so maybe I am more attune to memory usage.

And now it is there

 

[twerppoet]

The thing is that the app size as shown in the App Store is just the basic size of the app. Apps also get their own folder structure, and they can store all kinds of things there; especially if they access the internet or online services. None of this has anything to do with Apple. Probably the most common thing is caches or extra resources that are not strictly necessary for the app to work, but increase it's efficiency.

When you tap on an App under Settings > General > Usage you can see how much space is being taken by data being stored by that app. Add that to the app size for the total.

On top of that, apps can store their last state when shutting down. This is enabled and encouraged by Apple, but not required. For most apps this will be a negligible amount of space; but you never know for sure.

All of this shows up as storage use for that app.

There is no way for Apple to predict and report this extra usage, and depending on what they are doing with that file space even the developers may not be able to predict it.

 

[n4uau]

Twerppoet, thanks for more insight into the why. The what however is,IMHO, that Apple might recommend reinstalling apps from time to time. I just freed up another 150 Mb by reinstalling the Economist Mag app. I keep only one issue at a time to minimize space but even so reinstalling resulted in a drop from 362 to 208 Mb!

Do you think with ssd memory this results in any increase in data retrieval speed? Probably not.

My iPad 6 will clearly need to be at least 32Gb.

 

[twerppoet]

For example, here is the current usage for my Facebook app.

101 MB is the size of the app itself. The app is using an additional 118 MB of file storage. Most of it is probably a cache.

You can get back most of the Document & Data space by deleting the app, but it is only a temporary measure. Eventually the cache will fill up again.

A well behaved app will limit the maximum size of it's caches and/or other resource files; and Apple probably has some kind of check on how much space one app can gobble up. But in the end it comes down to the developer to make the most efficient use of space by balancing overall storage consumption against user experience.

Given that most users will never know/notice how much extra space an app is using I expect most developers err on the side of fast app response; because users are guaranteed to notice a laggy app.

 

[twerppoet]

Twerppoet, thanks for more insight into the why. The what however is,IMHO, that Apple might recommend reinstalling apps from time to time. I just freed up another 150 Mb by reinstalling the Economist Mag app. I keep only one issue at a time to minimize space but even so reinstalling resulted in a drop from 362 to 208 Mb!

Do you think with ssd memory this results in any increase in data retrieval speed? Probably not.

My iPad 6 will clearly need to be at least 32Gb.

I was busy typing and sending the above response before I read this.

I don't think Apple is likely to recommend deleting and reinstalling apps, because this is likely to cause more problems than it fixes. It gets back space, but for many apps it can also involve losing data, or just having to log into services again (with the inevitable "I forgot my password " dance for some).

Inevitably it comes down to needing more storage, and more storage, and more storage each year. We've been on this treadmill since the first personal computer and there is no end in site.

The current trend in cloud computing is shifting some of the storage burden off the device itself; but in many cases (like caches and resources) all that really does is trade bandwidth for GB as a precious resource.

 

[n4uau]

Agree with all you say! With 32Gb 'pad I wouldn't even notice this issue but as my free space drops to less than 3 Gb, saving 100 or 200 Mb per app by reinstalling is something I am glad to know is one way to keep memory for other apps!

I should have realized apps are getting bigger and better when I got the Air. 16Gb was good last year but barely enough now! As it is I move big apps like Numbers, Keynote to the cloud and back as needed.

Just saw your last, again agree. When is the new 'Pad due out? You know I hardly use my PC any more now that Pages etc fulfill my work needs. Ain't it wonderful!

 

[twerppoet]

Best guess for a new iPad Air is late this fall. That's just a guess; though pretty much the same guess experienced Apple bloggers are making. Apple will 'probably' want them available for the holiday shopping season.

I kind of wish Apple would stop offering the 16 GB models. Most consumers are going to run up against the storage limit quickly.

On the other hand businesses and education often want that low, low end model. They only need to install a few apps, and the savings cheaper models adds up quickly when you are buying in bulk.

My first iPad, first generation, was 32 GB and had cellular. When I got my iPad 2 I went with a 16 GB non-celular model; figuring I could live with the limits for the price. And I did. But it was a cramped and limited kind of living with. Since then I've gone back to buying the most storage I can afford, and never, ever, buying one without cellular.

 

[n4uau]

Part of my problem is I teach iPad classes at our Senior Center so I have lots of 'example' apps I don't use myself but want to have to show. I'll survive

 

[twerppoet]

Ah, I know another person who does that. Have fun.