I’ve been an Android user for as long as I’ve had a smartphone. My aunt works at Verizon Wireless and she’s a big time Android fan, so that was the phone I automatically fell in love with. I also had no interest in the iPhone because I felt like it’s lack of durability and unreasonable pricing wasn’t worth it. Recently, I decided to go ahead and use my upgrade to get an iPhone 6 and see why it was so popular.
I’ve had a few different Android devices but my most recent phone was the LG G2. Both the G2 and the iPhone 6 have their pros and cons but my major issue with the iPhone is the gigabyte amount in contrast to the actual cost. Most Androids offer 32GB options that are still affordable enough to not burn a hole in your wallet. Without a 2-year contract, the retail price for the 16GB iPhone at Verizon Wireless is $549.99 but it’s an additional $100 to go up to the 64GB. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t offer its device at 32GB, so you’re jumping from “too little” storage to “too much”. Therefore, if you’re shopping on a budget, you’ll most likely be going for the cheapest option.
After asking my cousin, a classmate, and a co-worker, they all managed to tell me the same thing: “16 gigabytes is nowhere near enough space, just get 64!”. The problem is you’re not actually given 16GB for personal use. Due to Apple’s pre-installed apps, once I got my iPhone 6, I realized I only had about 11.8 gigabytes of free space. That was the most disheartening thing I had ever seen.
So, here’s the question: Is 16GB really enough space for the average smartphone user?
With the new iOS 9, Apple has created a new feature called “App Thinning”. To put it in simple terms, it optimizes the application you download so it doesn’t take up as much space on your device as it may have before. This offers some extra help with storage management but here are some things to take into consideration to free up some space on your iPhone:
Music, Photos, Documents, and Videos
If there’s one thing you use your iPhone for, it’s most likely to listen to music. There’s an endless supply of songs on your computer that are ready to sync to your device, and like most people, you want all of your music in the same place. Unfortunately, if you have hundreds of songs, pictures, and videos on your phone, it’s only a matter of time before you’ll have to start deleting things. Having your music on a separate device such as an iPod can help free up some space, especially if you have a lot of songs. An iPod Nano is a great option for this purpose. Your videos, photos, and other documents can be backed up onto your computer or applications such as Dropbox, Google Photos, or Verizon Cloud. Apple gives you 5GB of free space on the iCloud which allows you to access your files on all of your Apple devices. The iCloud allows you to save the higher quality photos while the lower quality versions sit on your device, reducing the amount of storage that is used.
Text and Multimedia Messages
Texting is a really big deal when it comes to communication. You can share videos, photos, and voice recordings through multimedia messaging, which can be even more enjoyable on an iPhone. Hoarding all of your texts might seem like a good idea at first, but that eventually adds up. Especially if you’re constantly receiving photo and video messages, which can be the bulk of your storage consumption. In your message settings, you can arrange to have your older messages deleted after a certain amount of time. Texting apps like “WhatsApp” should also be cleared out every now and then to free up some extra storage space.
Applications
Unfortunately, pre-installed apps such as Apple Health, iBooks and Stocks can’t be deactivated or deleted – they are also the reason for your storage dilemma – but you can manage applications downloaded from the app store. If you know you haven’t played Candy Crush in a while go ahead and uninstall it. Delete any apps that you aren’t currently using. Apps start to take up space depending on how often you use it and how much data they’re storing. If you go to your storage settings, you can see which apps are taking up the most space then move forward from there.
General Maintenance Tips
Background App Refresh is exactly what it sounds like: it allows your applications to “refresh” their content while running in the background. Turning this feature off can lessen the amount of data and battery life being used. After speaking to my aunt, who is a Technical Support Supervisor at Verizon Wireless, she told me a very valid piece of advice, “If you don’t do anything on your iPhone to enhance its performance, the least you can do is to make sure you power cycle (or cut off) your device for a few minutes at least once a week.” It gives the device a chance to rest and not burn out which plays a role in how it’s functioning. Double tapping the home button shows you which apps are running in the background so every now and then it’s good to clear those out. Optimizing your storage space is important but it’s also good to make sure you are allowing your device to perform efficiently and effectively.