Phone software updates often require you to free up space on your smartphone. But if you’re like most users, photos and videos probably take up the most space on your phone, and deleting them is not an optimal choice. Don’t fret. There are lots of simple ways to clear room for that update. (Depending on your device, some instructions and functions may vary.)
Survey your space.
First, find out what’s taking up the most room. For iPhone: Go to Settings > General > Storage & iCloud Usage > Manage Storage tab. For Android: Check Settings > Storage or the My Device app.
Apps, podcasts and e-books … oh my!
Apps don’t take up much memory, unless you download them by the dozen. Try deleting apps you never use, podcasts you’ve listened to and e-books you’ve read.
Stream, don’t store.
Streaming apps take up less room, give you millions of songs, and let you easily organize and follow playlists you’ll love. Try Spotify, Pandora, or if you love to discover upcoming artists, SoundCloud.
A new resolution.
The HDR camera function on your phone takes multiple images and then blends them into the single high-quality photo you see on your screen. Problem is, your phone saves every picture used to make that single image. If you don’t need duplicates, access the camera app settings in your device and adjust the normal and HDR options based on your preferences.
Photo-edit freedom.
If you have photo apps for adding graphics or photo effects, check the app to make sure it’s not storing extra copies of the photos you’ve edited. If your camera roll already has the pic, no need for the app to house a duplicate.
File your video files.
Since videos take up roughly 78MB for every minute of HD footage, the quicker you can move them off your phone, the better. Enable automatic uploading from your camera roll to iCloud, Dropbox or Google Drive. Then, delete videos from your phone once they’re saved or posted!
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