Why's my iCloud backup so big?

[Matt_C]

My phone hasn't backed up for over two weeks, but I'm not sure why? It says my next back up size is 5.2gb, and that an additional 2.3gb is required to back up, and my current back up size is 2.1gb - so if I've used 2.1 and need 2.3, that's 4.4, right? And it's saying I have 2.9gb available, but when I press 'back up now' it fails saying I need to buy additional space.


I'm not sure what's eating up so much space? My photo library is 2.9gb, but everything else is tiny. Out of the huge list of apps listed in the storage info, only three or 4 are turned on, and these are a couple hundred mb combined.

It was saying I'd used 4.9gb and had 145mb available, and after hunting the net, I read that someone else was having the same prob, and fixed it by turning off camera roll, and then back on. I did that and got the previously mentioned figures (see pics)

So why won't it back up? I'm loathed to delete the back up and try again, in case it still won't do it and I end up with no online backup. But a mate with roughly the same camera roll size as mine (2.3gb) still has over half his available space left, and that's with an iPad on the same account too.

What gives?

 

[surfymark]

I suspect that this is to do with your PhotoStream.

When you take a picture, it uploads to your PhotoStream which counts as part of your iCloud storage (even though it is not shown in the Settings).

Turning off Camera and back on again wipes out the Photostream thus freeing up some space.

I would do some further research if I were you but turning Camera off and back on again shouldn't mean you lose anything. It will just mean that photos that were stored in Photostream will disappear (but you will still have them on your phone).

HTH
M

 

[Matt_C]

Photostream doesn't count towards/against iCloud though...

 

[surfymark]

Really? Ok well then I can't explain why turning photos off and back on again shrinks the space used massively but it does, I have done it a number of times now.

M

 

[Matt_C]

Camera roll counts to iCloud, but photostream doesn't - at least according to Apple anyway iCloud: My Photo Stream FAQ

 

[Matt_C]

Well I've deleted all SMS and iMessages from my phone, in attempt to clear out the pictures and media stored in there, but no joy. So I restored it in iTunes to a new install of 7.1, and it's finishing restoring settings etc now, but still no joy. It's still saying the current backup size is 2.1gb, available space is 2.9gb, and next back up is 5.0 gb (down from 5.2 - maybe iMessage/SMS data?), and an additional 2.1gb os space is required in order to back up

Stumped.....

 

[New Start Neil]

@Matt_C If you connect the phone to iTunes, does it show a stupidly large 'other' amount of GB in the bar at the bottom?

 

[Matt_C]

I'll have a look later

 

[Matt_C]

So here's what iTunes reports;

It's stating;

Music = 2.71gb
Video = 520.4mb
Photos = 3.01gb
Apps = 2.72gb
Docs and Data = 150.5mb
Other = 2gb

 

[New Start Neil]

So here's what iTunes reports;

It's stating;

Music = 2.71gb
Video = 520.4mb
Photos = 3.01gb
Apps = 2.72gb
Docs and Data = 150.5mb
Other = 2gb

Bingo!

It's quite a common problem ("Other"), but I can't remember the cure, sorry.

 

[Matt_C]

Where's the button for "un-useful" ?

 

[Blujelly]

Am I right in saying to clear 'other' don't you need to unfortunately reset your iPhone? Or is it erase and restore from backup?

*EDIT*
Link from Apple forums someone else had the same issue and was asking about how to clear. Restore is required and re run from your last backup, so back up before you restore should do the trick.

"Other" data (iPhone) - How do I remove...: Apple Support Communities

 

[Matt_C]

Been there, done that. I backed it up in iTunes, erased it, then restored it from the backup - same deal

 

[New Start Neil]

Been there, done that. I backed it up in iTunes, erased it, then restored it from the backup - same deal

It may be that iTunes is part of the issue.

Try iCloud.

 

[Matt_C]

As I said is post #1, Can't back up to icloud, because my backup size is too large.

 

[stoomc]

I had a large "other" section time and time again, and it turned out that streaming movies from the cloud (iTunes in the cloud movies) was the problem for me. Even after I had finished watching the movie and quit out of the app etc. The memory was still getting taken up somewhere with the movie files.

 

[New Start Neil]

@Matt_C This "Other" problem is a widespread one and seems to be caused by various things, like strings of text messages and emails with attachments etc.

Take a look at this and see if it helps: How to Remove “Other” Data Stored on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch

 

[Matt_C]

I've done pretty much all of that, but did them again anyway. Other still stands at 1.91gb. I guess I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and pay Apple £14 a year for increased iCloud if I want to continue using it - damn you Apple!

 

[Blujelly]

I've never had this issue when it comes to clearing other data. I'd suggest going to an Apple store.

 

[New Start Neil]

I've done pretty much all of that, but did them again anyway. Other still stands at 1.91gb. I guess I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and pay Apple £14 a year for increased iCloud if I want to continue using it - damn you Apple!

Matt-did you look to see if any apps are to blame here?

What does it say in General>Usage>Manage Storage? Are there apps storing large amounts of data?

 

[Matt_C]

The two largest were Facebook (444mb) and Whatsapp (175mb), both of which I deleted and reinstalled, clearing out the stored D&D in them. Other went down to 1.91gb, but that's it. Still won't backup to iCloud, and wants 5.x gb worth of storage before it will...

 

[Matt_C]

Huh?