One of the most annoying parts about having a smartphone is having to be strategic about your device’s storage so that it doesn’t fill up.
However, no matter how often they try to make room, there are a lot of iPhone and Android users who feel as though their phone is always showing them ‘full storage’ notifications. When a device’s storage is full, it doesn’t take long before it starts slowing down, lagging with certain features, dying earlier, etc. Most people usually blame their large number of photos for eating up their storage, but we spoke with a tech pro about two other things that can contribute to it. Read more about them below.
Women Are Swapping Their Boring Water For This Ice Pop Electrolyte Mix!
1. Having Too Many Apps
If you get a full storage notification on your phone, before you start scrolling through your photo library to see which snaps and videos you should delete, it's a good idea to take a look at all the apps you have downloaded, as they can make a big difference in how much space you have.
"They grow constantly due to the project files in the background," explains tech pro Thanassis Giannakelis. "Most of the files are imperceptibly recorded to facilitate access to previously viewed content, search results, and downloads. Stream, social media, and shopping applications fall in the same situation. People are left with the impression that an app has a small footprint, but in an actual sense, that app can grow to several gigabytes, insidiously, over time."
2. Excess Files & Downloads
When looking back on all of the pictures, videos, PDFs, and more that you've sent back and forth on your device, it's important to remember that they often stick around and don't always live in your photo album app. They can be located in messaging apps, both preinstalled and downloaded, tools like your voice memo app, etc., and should be cleared.
"Even if a user thinks all their files are in the 'cloud,' the actual files and threads like texts, threads, and like voice apps, on the single user end can domicile a big portion of the storage," notes Thanassis. Most of these applications keep these files in a local repository to sustain the speed and offline availability, which ultimately leads to unperceivable filling of the storage over time."
