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cloud storage vs more in-phone storage? (64gb)

T

ThereGoesJB

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 29, 2010
132
1
I will be getting the new iphone, and it will be my first smartphone. Id obviously like to get as much storage as possible, but with 64gb at 400$ its a tough call. So my question is, as smartphones and their internet connections get faster, is cloud storage becoming a reasonable way to manage storage?

Since ive never owned a smartphone I dont really know all the things to consider when it comes to what will be eating up storage space.
Id love to have music on there and i figure apps take up a lot of space right? And neither of these things could really be in cloud storage.

Do you use cloud storage and find it very helpful with managing your smartphone storage?
 
Until I got my HTC One which came with 32GB, I had 16GB iPhones. I don't have to have all of my music, hundreds of apps, 50 movies, etc.

That said, I do prefer local storage over cloud storage.

So, it all depends on what your needs and preferences are.
 
I use cloud storage for all my music (Google Music) and use Netflix and YouTube for video viewing, so I have about 7GB free on my 16GB 4S without having to compromise. Any songs I oft listen to are locally stored, but otherwise most of my media is on the cloud.
 
Cloud storage is only viable if you have a grandfathered unlimited data plan or if you are always using wifi.
 
lazard said:
Cloud storage is only viable if you have a grandfathered unlimited data plan or if you are always using wifi.
Click to expand...

Correct. Since this is your first smartphone you will be getting a limited amount of data each month and by using cloud storage for everything, you'll easily burn through your data allotment before the end of the month.
 
I have hit my maximum capacity on my 64gb due to volume of photos and music. I like to have all my photos to hand and there are thousands!:eek:

It is a pain to only sync certain bits!
 
I used to use 16gb phones, but I upped it to a 32GB this last time with the 5 and i'm happy I did.

Most of my storage is used by music, then photos then apps.

I have 7gb of photos, 6.5gb of music and the rest is used by apps.

Currently i'm using 23.6GB of space on my 32 gb. I think like 4gb is used by iOS. So that leaves me with 28gb.

7gb is currently being used by photos and videos (I regularly back up and delete my photos from my phone, or else this number would be significantly higher)
6.5gb by music

So, that means I have around 10gb of apps. My largest app being Zombies, Run! Which is using around 500mb. They all significantly decrease from there.

I think the Pinterest app is over 1gb, but I don't use that.

I will be getting another 32gb phone, but if they changed the storage points, I would get a 64 at $299. I can't see myself paying $399 for a 64gb phone.
 
Sometimes I can't believe we've even gotten to this point. When I got the original iPhone, I thought 8GB was a ridiculous amount of storage for a phone. I now have a 64GB one lol.
 
bigcstyle4 said:
Sometimes I can't believe we've even gotten to this point. When I got the original iPhone, I thought 8GB was a ridiculous amount of storage for a phone. I now have a 64GB one lol.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's crazy isn't? And most likely next year there will be 128GB. But the way I see it, storage requirements are very different on phones vs. laptops. But 32 should really be the minimum these days.
 
ThereGoesJB said:
I will be getting the new iphone, and it will be my first smartphone. Id obviously like to get as much storage as possible
Click to expand...

Not necessarily.

Do u even own other IOS devices? How big is your iTunes library? If neither of those then you don't know how much u need plus it will take a while to build your library.

First car, you don't necessarily buy the most expensive Mercedes.
 
Mrbobb said:
Do u even own other IOS devices? How big is your iTunes library?
Click to expand...

i do not own other ios devices, but i do love mymusic collection. Ideally, id love to put 30-40gb of music on there. Realistically I could prob trim that down to 15-20.
I've been holding off getting a smartphone for a while and initially decided I wouldnt get one until it was capable of replacing a p&s camera, ipod, and phone. These are three things id normally take everywhere. The camera being the biggest question but prob could have done that since the 4 or 4s.

So that said, i want to be able to have this thing and not also carry around an ipod, and camera. I am just clueless as to how well cloud storage works tho, if i can easily dump photos or music there then maybe 32gb would be fine.
 
Having an iPhone 4 (16 GB), I am also debating between upgrading to an iPhone 5C/5S 16 GB or 32 GB.

My iTunes library is a little over 8 GB (complete collection). That alone takes up half my storage (more than half if you count the space the iOS takes up). And I would really prefer having my full playlist instead of choosing...

As for photos/videos... I used to have quite a bit but I pretty much delete everything as I go now because I lack the storage space. Anyways, the quality of photos/videos on the iPhone 4 isn't so great now. But I imagine when I'll upgrade to an iPhone 5C/5S that I'll be taking a lot more photos/videos. So I would want at least some space dedicated for this.

As for the rest of my apps, I had to get rid of a lot. My biggest app is my TomTom GPS (over 1.5 GB). Other apps would be a lot smaller in size... but still with 16 GB you can't have a lot more.

So now I'm debating if I want to upgrade to an iPhone 5C (32 GB) or the iPhone 5S (32 GB). I really would prefer the 5S (I would try to keep it 2+ years... possibly 3) over the 5C. However, I hate paying an extra 100 bucks for another 16 GB. It may not sound like much... but to me it is. I know the 5C would still be quite an upgrade from the 4, but the little extras from the 5S (and the look) are something I'd appreciate.
 
bigcstyle4 said:
Correct. Since this is your first smartphone you will be getting a limited amount of data each month and by using cloud storage for everything, you'll easily burn through your data allotment before the end of the month.
Click to expand...
I don't think this is really true for everyone. At least not for me. I have iTunes match, and I stream SiriusXM and pandora in the car. But not ALL THE TIME.

I mean, yeah, if you stream all day long on cellular, you'll come up against your limit. But I have never, ever come close. I think I had nearly 2GB one month, but that was crazy, at the cabin for a week and didn't have wifi.

You gotta stream YouTube; can't really store that on your phone. So yeah, I guess if you're streaming videos all day on cellular, that's gonna chew it up.

So, yes, some people will be handcuffed by a 3GB allotment. But I can't imagine most users would be.

I suppose you should look at the cost comparison, too... $100 for each storage upgrade. Even if you occasionally go over your allotment, will those fees reach $100 over the course of the phone? Just a question you gotta ask.
 
Unfortunately, grandfathered "unlimited" data plans aren't what they used to be. I have an unlimited data plan with AT&T and have had it since getting an iPhone 3G many years ago. Last month, I hit 3GB of data usage and AT&T suddenly throttled my download speeds to dial-up speeds. Loading a simple web-page took about one minute and virtually rendered my iPhone worthless for data usage unless I was on wi-fi. I think this is criminal and they should be sued, but that is a topic for another conversation.

At any rate, where this does tie into this thread is iTunes Match and Cloud usage. It's a great idea, but it's rendered useless for many of us due to the horrendous practices and policies of most cell phone carriers in the United States. What good is the Cloud if I can't regularly access it while on the go? So I'm left with getting the most storage I possibly can on my iPhone when I buy a new version.

Bryan
 
My wife's iPhone is 16GB and she is happy with it but I wish we had spent the extra for more storage. We take a lot of pictures and video of our toddler which takes up a bunch of storage. The toddler prefers watching videos of herself so we use those for entertaining her in the car etc. That leaves very little room for anything else. When it comes to iCloud the first 5GB are complimentary but the next package is $20/year for a total of 15GB.

I'd buy the extra storage if I was doing it again.
 
ThereGoesJB said:
So my question is, as smartphones and their internet connections get faster, is cloud storage becoming a reasonable way to manage storage?
Click to expand...
Depends on the individual. It's your call to make.

ThereGoesJB said:
i figure apps take up a lot of space right?
Click to expand...
Depends on the apps and how many you have. Some are small. Some are large. They're not all identical in size and people don't use the same apps or same number of apps.

ThereGoesJB said:
Do you use cloud storage and find it very helpful with managing your smartphone storage?
Click to expand...
I use cloud storage and find it useful but it doesn't significantly reduce my usage of local storage. Again, this is a subjective matter and, as with all subjective matters, YMMV.

My motto is always that there's no such thing as too much storage capacity -- especially when the storage capacity cannot be increased as on the iPhone. You've got to decide where you're willing to make compromises.

lazard said:
Cloud storage is only viable if you have a grandfathered unlimited data plan or if you are always using wifi.
Click to expand...
Those aren't the only possibilities. Low usage that slots in under one's limits is also viable.

terzinator said:
I don't think this is really true for everyone.
Click to expand...
It's not. People on any discussion forum site tend to assume that their needs/wants/preferences/situation/budget/etc are universal despite plenty of real world evidence to the contrary. Many can't see past their own situation for some reason. Any matter of usage should be obviously subjective.
 
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