iPhone: 14 tips for freeing up space and installing iOS 11
With a new system, it's time to check if your iPhone can receive it smoothly. We say this not only for the sake of compatibility, but also the need to free up storage on your iPhone to download and install the update. However, freeing up the recommended space - about 4GB in total - to install iOS 11 on your smartphone will not be a difficult task following the 14 tips below. Check out!
Tip: Check out the 8 biggest news about iOS 11 that might interest you to upgrade your iPhone!
1. Find out how much free space you already have on your iPhone
Suddenly you came to this text looking for how to install iOS 11 or free up space to install it, but you may not need to clear even 1MB. If you are about 4GB free on your iPhone or iPad, no cleaning is required.
To find out how much free space is on your smartphone or tablet, open the Settings app and go to General . Then select the Storage & iCloud option and then Manage Storage . The available space on your iPhone will be shown and if you have more than 4GB available you can install iOS 11 without a blink.
2. Uninstall apps you no longer need
Do you know those iPhone apps that have been on your phone for a while but never removed them for laziness? So this is the time to uninstall them to reclaim space on your phone. The same can be said for iPhone games that is no longer playing. Just go to the same Storage menu we mentioned in the option above and check the list of applications, uninstalling what you no longer use.
Tip: If you have already installed iOS 11 on your device, see also how to uninstall apps on iOS 11!
3. Delete downloaded content
Not everything that is taking up space on your iPhone comes from apps, especially if you're an Apple Music user. To find out which songs from the service your device has downloaded, go to the Settings app by going to General and going to Storage and iCloud . Then go to Music, followed by Apple Music . To delete a complete song or album, simply swipe left on the corresponding option and tap Delete.
4. Clear Safari Cache
Cache are temporary files that your browser downloads to access a site faster. While the function is useful and really speeds up browsing, your cell phone storage can end up getting crowded with files because of it. So if you are about to install iOS 11 and need space, go to the Settings app, go to the Safari tab and select the Clear Site History and Data option.
5. Delete application cache
It's not just Safari that uses caching to speed up browser use. Other apps - mostly iPhone games - also use these temporary files and may also overcrowd your smartphone. To clear the app cache, go to the specific app settings and look for the option to clear the cache.
6. Delete podcasts you've listened to
Long lasting podcasts take up more space than normal songs. Even if you enjoy cataloging podcasts you've previously listened to, we suggest that you store them only in your iCloud account, deleting it from your device as soon as you listen.
Follow the same path to access Storage and iCloud from your device by following this path: Storage -> Manage Storage -> Podcasts . As you did in the previous item, just swipe left on the podcast you want to delete and confirm the Delete button.
7. Upload your photos to the cloud and delete them from your device
Do not keep photos taken on your phone for too long. Despite taking up little space, the amount of photos you take after a few months of use can become quite significant and fill your iPhone. So choose to use services like iCloud or Google Photos. We strongly recommend that you prefer Google's free app, which still stores high-definition photos for free, not to mention the limit on your Google account.
Tip: Check out this text and learn how to back up your images with Google Photos!
8. Optimize your iCloud for photos on iPhone
If, on the other hand, you have selected to use your iCloud account to store your photos and free up space, there is a way to optimize your images. This is done so that photos will not take up much space on the device. In the iCloud menu, enable the Optimize on iPhone option, which can be found in the Settings app by going to Photos and Camera . ICloud will keep only preview images on your device on iPhone, downloading them only when you tap to view the original photo.
9. Turn off Live Photos
While Live Photos are interesting and can result in amazing photos, images take up to double or triple the space of iPhone. To disable them, click the target format icon located at the top of the Camera app screen. If you have a lot of Live Photos, upload them to iCloud or Google Photos to free up space on your iPhone.
Tip: You can also convert your Live Photos to GIFs for use on Facebook! Check out our tutorial and learn how to do it!
10. Delete the Deleted Album
Even if you delete photos on iPhone, they are not completely deleted from the device, leaving them in an album called Deleted . That is, to delete the photos once, you must delete your photos twice. To do so, go to your iPhone Photos app, open the Deleted tab, tap Select, choose all images, and tap Delete .
Tip: The reverse can also happen and you can recover deleted photos on iPhone and iPad!
11. Don't let your messengers download attachments automatically
Not necessarily a method for freeing up space on iPhone to install iOS 11, but to prevent your device from getting overloaded with useless files. Apps like WhatsApp, Messenger or iMessage itself may end up overcrowding your iPhone with videos and images you don't even want to see. Therefore, disable automatic download of attachments in these applications. Click on the link and see the tutorial to do this on WhatsApp.
12. Delete Siri Voices
While it is fun to try out the various voices Siri can use - especially asking her to speak funny phrases - delete those that you no longer use. To do this, open the Settings app -> General -> Accessibility -> Speech . Choose the language that has downloaded voices, tap the Edit button and delete the voices you need to delete by tapping the red button.
13. Optimize Your Apple Music
A tip for Apple Music users to be able to install iOS 11 on their devices. You can optimize the use of the app on iPhone by making it consume less space. Just go to the Settings app, go to Music, and tap the Optimize storage option. Then simply choose one of the options from the list, and when your songs exceed the storage limit, Apple Music will automatically delete the oldest songs.
14. Macete: Clog Your iPhone Over the Limit
It may seem counterproductive, but this last tip will free up space rather than make you lose. When you try to download an app that exceeds your iPhone's storage limit, your device will automatically begin clearing the cache of apps and browsers so that this “giant” app can be installed. As recommended for installing iOS 11 is 4GB, try downloading an app larger than this size and, after installing it, immediately delete it to have a clean iPhone for the update.
Read too:
Got to clear space on iPhone to install iOS 11?
The latest Apple system update brings security enhancements and new features, and it is always recommended to keep it updated. We therefore recommend that you take the time to free up space and update your smartphone as soon as possible. Which of these is the best tip? Would you like to give us some other trick? Comment with us!
