iPod Touch Problem (1 Viewer)

[Mark_TB]

I know nothing beyond the basics of my 32GB iPod Touch and iTunes, so I'm hoping someone here can help me with a problem I've been having lately. Something seems to be eating away at the storage capacity of my iPod, and I can't figure out what it is, or how to stop it.


I noticed a couple of months ago that my storage capacity was slowly decreasing, even though I wasn't adding anything new to it. When I have the iPod connected to iTunes and go to the iPod summary, the space used in the "Other" category is steadily increasing everytime I sync. It was up to 3.5 GB a few weeks ago when I did a restore of my iPod. After that, the "Other" category dropped down to about 0.33 GB. But since then, it's slowly worked its way up to 0.84 GB.


As you can guess, I'd like to know: a) What exactly is stored in that "Other" category, and b) How do I keep it from eating away at my storage capacity?


Thanks in advance for any helpful advice.


- Mark

 

[Sam Posten]

Caches, and things like album covers, sometimes data for your apps, things like your mail, comic books and kindle books etc. Don't worry about managing it unless its really obstinate....


http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=489734

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Do you have any e-mail accounts on your Touch? They can take up a large amount of space if you aren't diligent about managing your mail. The Safari cache can also take up a significant amount of space.

 

[Mark_TB]

Michael - The only email I use is my Hotmail account. I've cleared the Safari cache, but that doesn't make any real difference.


I'm wondering if it might be the TuneIn Radio app I downloaded about the time this problem started. It plays internet radio stations, but it also saves the music as it streams so that you can rewind or even record it. I always assumed that it clears itself once you close the app, but maybe it stays on the iPod, even though I can no longer access it. If that is the case, I still don't know how to delete it short of doing a complete restore of my iPod, but that is inconvenient and takes hours. I'd like to find a simpler solution.


- Mark

 

[Greg_S_H]

The link says rentals are cleared by rebooting the touch. Maybe it would work for music.

 

[Mark_TB]

Forgive my ignorance, but is rebooting the same as "restore"? If not, how do I reboot? (I did a check of the owners manual, but it didn't show anything for "reboot.")


- Mark

 

[Greg_S_H]

No, you just hold the power button for a few seconds until it tells you to swipe to power off. I'd wait 10-30 seconds, and then hold it again until it restarts. To not take anything for granted, the power button is on the top edge of the unit.

 

[Mark_TB]

Originally Posted by Greg_S_H I have tried that before (and just tried it again to be certain), but no, it doesn't have any effect. I feel like there's something incredibly simple that I'm missing, but I sure don't know what it is.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Have you tried deleting the app to see if it purges the saved songs as well?

 

[Mark_TB]

Originally Posted by Michael_K_Sr I also tried deleting the Netflix app, but that didn't make any difference, either. So far the only solution I've come up with is doing the full restore.


Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[Sam Posten]

My solution is for you to not worry about it. It's not user accessible data and the device thinks it needs it. Yes that's a good chunk of an 8gb device but those are the breaks.

 

[Mark_TB]

Originally Posted by Sam Posten

My solution is for you to not worry about it. It's not user accessible data and the device thinks it needs it. Yes that's a good chunk of an 8gb device but those are the breaks.

I wouldn't mind so much if it were a set amount, but it keeps growing. Today alone it ate up another 100 mb, and I didn't add anything, nor did I listen to or watch anything! It will eventually take up all of my available space. I have trouble believing that's normal.

 

[Sam Posten]

That's how caches work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cache

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_cache


Also, from a Macrumors thread:

Note that 'Other' is a catch-all that will include the entire size of the system partition plus anything in /private/var not included in some other category. This includes database files, configuration files, unsynced iTunes purchases, the Camera Roll, recordings, voicemail, contacts, calendars, MMS, caches, log files, etc. as well as most things installed by Cydia.

Is your iPod jailbroken? Seems Cydia is a hog. But that list might give you some other clues...

 

[Mark_TB]

Looks like Apple found the solution for me. I downloaded the new version of iTunes last night, and when I synched my iPod this morning, the "Other" category dropped back down to the its normal level of 300 mb. I have no idea what they changed, but as long as it stays this way, I'm happy.


- Mark

 

[davesmith]

I have the same issue with the other folder. I also found that when I got to 1gb free on the ipod i couldnt add anything extra. it said that there was no space to add data which was very frustrating. Hopefully when I sync with the new itunes the problem will go away for me too.