IOS 8 users massively deleting to make room
LOS ANGELES — Surprise: the download of iOS 8 isn't going as smoothly as you hoped it would.
Despite past updates that required 1 GB of space, the Twitterverse is afire with users scrambling for space for iOS 8, with Apple asking for anywhere from 4.7 to 5.8 GBs of free space to make room for the new operating system.
"That's practically my entire storage," tweets Pat Toomey of Brick, N.J.
Freeing up space is a big issue for folks who own iPhones and iPads that start with 16 GB of storage. Freeing up 5 GB of space means massive deletion of photos and music.
Some quick fine print: Apple says it's just borrowing the extra gigabytes on a temporary basis. You can get them back after the download is finished.
The download file truly is 1 GB, but it's a compressed file that needs to open up and spread out in over the air downloads. So if you have an iPhone with 16 GB of storage, and you've used 11 GBs, you should back up 1 GB, delete it off your phone, and then bring back the media after IOS8 is on your device.
Here's a better, less painful method. Plug the phone into your computer, and fire up iTunes. The compressed file can spread out on your computer instead of the device, causing less havoc.
The new iOS has many new features that are available on the iPhone 6, including audio texts, a new keyboard with predictive typing and the ability to use the Siri voice-activate personal assistant to open apps.
One of the most touted features of iOS8, the new Health app, which taps into various health apps like MyFitnessPal and WebMD, to put all the information in one place, got features delayed. The Health app is available in IOS8 and new iPhone 6 devices, but will not be able to display all the info as promised, due to a bug. Apple says it hopes to fix soon.
But it's the storage issues that have received the most social media outcries.
"I don't even have 1 GB available," tweets Kaitlin Quinton. "Guess I ain't getting it."
So many Twitter users have complained about massive deletes, they also joke about it. Beyond 5.8 GB of storage, Apple also wants your social security, a kidney, two pints of blood, and you must give up chocolate for two months," tweets Becca Cantor.
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