Is there anything I can do about this extremely vague block of data that’s taking up 30% of my phone’s storage? Mind you, this isn’t the operating system itself, as that’s listed as its own category.
this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2025
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The advice I’ve seen is to back up your phone (iCloud or iTunes), factory reset, then restore your backup.
These things get bigger and bigger the older your phone is, because OS updates seem to always leave more and more shit laying around (probably for disaster recovery in case the update goes sideways).
Windows has a command you can run to purge all the old update shit to free up space. I wish Apple would get off their ass and implement the same.
Cable backup to Mac’s the best way for some reason is that right?
iCloud or local Mac backup is the same in terms of data. A local Mac backup is significantly faster.
Local backup saves sensitive data which doesn’t go into iCloud backups. For the most part it doesn’t matter because that data can usually be restored from the keychain and secure enclave, but that takes longer and can still miss some bits you have to enter yourself.
Thought it was something like that ya!
I like the idea of doing a full DFU restore from IPSW when getting a new phone to go full paranoia mode. Haven’t done but… anyway then local restore.