Clearing up iPhone memory is necessary to avoid slowing down the smartphone too much. Here are some tips and tricks for deciding which file to delete
When we buy a new iPhone or iPad, the first thing we notice is that, compared to the previous one, it has a lot more storage space. Technology evolves and each model offers more and more memory to install applications and store files of all kinds, photos and especially videos.
After a few months, however, the initial enthusiasm disappears because we begin to deal with a storage space that is increasingly restricted. It's the result of our previous behaviors, when we thought the iPhone's memory would never run out. And, instead, it's about to run out because even iPhones don't escape the golden rule of all smartphones: the more you use them, the more they fill up with files that are often little more than junk. That's why it's sometimes necessary to clean up, but of what? Which files to delete first? First of all, you have to figure out which files are consuming the most memory, by going to Settings > General > Free Space and looking at the space occupied graph. It's divided by colors, so we'll know right away if it's apps, photos or other files that are stealing space.
Deleting Unnecessary Apps on iPhone
If apps are taking up too much memory on iPhone, we need to uninstall unnecessary ones to free up precious storage space. By going to Settings > General > Free Space we can select a single app and decide between two options: "Uninstall app" or "Delete app". In the first case the app is deleted, but the files generated by it over time remain. In the second case, both the app and its files are deleted. It's also possible to enable the "Remove unused apps" option, letting the iPhone directly choose which apps to delete based on our actual use of them. Finally, starting from iOS 10, you can also delete Apple's pre-installed apps.
Move Photos and Videos to Cloud
Photos and videos take up a lot of storage space even on iPhones. Especially HDR photos and videos in high resolution and with many frames per second. To solve this problem we can move them to the cloud, to iCloud servers, by going to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and then activating "iCloud Photos". The device will start uploading all our media files to Apple's servers, and when it's done, however, there will be a copy of each file left on our iPhone. To get rid of that too, we have to enable the "Optimize space" option as well, so only a low-resolution copy will be left on the device.
Modify image quality
Iphones are famous for their image quality. Images that, however, do nothing but take up precious space, especially if you decide to enable all the "extra" features such as HDR. To make your photos less heavy and not decrease the quality too much, you can disable the "HDR smart" function. To do this, go to Settings > Camera and turn off the toggle next to "HDR smart".
A similar thing can be done for videos. The latest generation iPhones allow you to record movies in 4K resolution at 60fps. These videos are of very high quality, but at the same time they take up a lot of memory. So what to do? Very simple, just go to Settings & Camera and click Record Video. A menu will open with different resolutions: set 1080p HD at 60fps: the quality will remain high and the weight of the video will be lower.
Use a music streaming app
The iPhone is still one of the best music players and many people load music onto the device to listen to while traveling and on the go. CDs and individual tracks, however, do nothing but occupy the iPhone's memory, unnecessarily. Today, you can listen to music for free via streaming apps like Spotify or Apple Music. The advice is to delete all songs loaded on your iPhone and download a streaming music app.