Comments on: How much free space should I leave on my iPhone?

By: Xtianapi

Xtianapi — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 18:28:00 +0000

The operating system uses space and is not included on what it shows you. The memory on the phone does not work like a hard drive instead the data is evenly distributed across the memory module using something called leveling algorithms. To make it easier on these algorithms to even everything out you should leave fifteen to twenty percent free. If you can’t manage to do that then you will be a little harder on the memory, but that shouldn’t matter because everyone ends up replacing there phone before the memory wears out. I wouldn’t worry to much about it unless you are planning to have that phone for five years or more. I would try to keep eight hundred MB free.

By: Wesley Fryer

Wesley Fryer — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:42:24 +0000

This is an original iPhone so I’m thinking the 16 GB wasn’t available then– just 8 GB and 4 GB… Is that right? I’m thinking I got all the memory I could… certainly want that now!

I am really missing my 80 GB iPod which was stolen from my car several months ago, since it could contain all my content. Now I have to be more selective with both playlists and videos. Not a terrible thing. This is challenging me to use the genius feature along with smart playlists to delve into my collection of songs more… I’m making playlists just for the videos I want to sync, like TedTalks. I have a lot more downloaded than will fit.

I haven’t used tags on iPhoto photos and should give that try. Thanks for the tip.

By: Alan Levine

Alan Levine — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 06:51:50 +0000

Shoulda bought the 16Gb, eh?

I would not screw around and make room. Dump the long Bee Gees and Abba tracks

I don’t keep a lot of video on my iPhone; once I watch a movie (I bought a few on itunes from travel), I move them off my iTunes directory to a backup hard drive. I am selective on my photos; I dont sync them all, but use tags to create smart photo sets.

By: Eric M.

Eric M. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:15:59 +0000

I would leave more room so you have space to download apps when you need them.

By: Bryan McDonald

Bryan McDonald — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:47:34 +0000

I have no idea if this has any merit but a friend of mine told me that battery life will increase with more space taken up on the drive.

By: Wesley Fryer

Wesley Fryer — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 05:18:24 +0000

I went ahead and posted this question in the Apple iPhone support forum, Helen, maybe we’ll hear some answers there.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1763508

By: Helen

Helen — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:51:26 +0000

Wes–I’ve been wondering this myself. I’m down to less than 500 MB and am getting worried. In fact, I’ve already taken some things off my phone to keep this bit of space. I can’t wait to hear what others have to say. I think your premise about the missing GB could be true. I just figured it was where the iPhone software was installed.