Is there an app that can show me the remaining unused storage on my 32gb ATV4? (so I can decide if I wan to exchange it for the 64gb ATV4)
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Apps Is there an app that can show me the remaining unused storage on my 32gb ATV4? (so I can decide if I
- Thread starter watermelonbook
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I could swear someone mentioned that those figures didn't show the true number. They just show the size of the apps, as they were downloaded. (not the additional stuff that each app subsequently downloaded in the background)
There's a couple of really basic, crappy 99c ones available - recommend you avoid them like the plague.
Here's the best bang for your buck (literally!!).
System Activity Monitor
The one problem that exists with every storage reporting app for the Apple TV is the way the TvOS file system works.
Yes they will technically show you what's physically used at any point in time but because of the way TvOS handles storage, it markes additional downloaded content (outside of the 200MB initial download) as temporary and it can be overwritten at any point.
So as you start to run out of space, TvOS begins deleting the additionally downloaded files that you haven't used in a while so that you don't run out of space.
Really it should be impossible to actually fill up an Apple TV of any capacity. All that actually changes is how frequently you are re-downloading files. Unless you've got the worst internet service/package in the world that's never really going to be an issue.
Best option, use the Apple TV and don't think, or worry about storage at all. That's how it was designed to be.
Yes they will technically show you what's physically used at any point in time but because of the way TvOS handles storage, it markes additional downloaded content (outside of the 200MB initial download) as temporary and it can be overwritten at any point.
So as you start to run out of space, TvOS begins deleting the additionally downloaded files that you haven't used in a while so that you don't run out of space.
Really it should be impossible to actually fill up an Apple TV of any capacity. All that actually changes is how frequently you are re-downloading files. Unless you've got the worst internet service/package in the world that's never really going to be an issue.
Best option, use the Apple TV and don't think, or worry about storage at all. That's how it was designed to be.
None of this is relevant to reporting disk space. Either you're using a Byte of space or you're not. How the OS handles files is irrelevant to this topic.
It kind of is, particularly when it's designed to not let you run out of storage space. Normally when you use storage space it is a constant. It doesn't change unless you deliberately delete it, or add to it. And that's the concern we have with normal storage, that we are going to reach a point when we have added so much to it that we can no longer add anything new without some manual intervention.
But TvOS was designed, in a way, to free you from thinking too much about available physical storage because it doesn't use it in a typical way. That there are two different capacities of Apple TV is really just to afford a person the luxury of downloading the same data over and over again less often.
With TvOS, when you begin to approach the limit of your storage capacity it will begin to remove the oldest data which you have used least often. Therefore automatically creating new free space.
So while it can be nice to know how much physical storage space you might have left. Because of the way the system works, you'll never actually know how much "free space" you have. The notion of using a Byte of space isn't quite the same when you have no control over whether or not that Byte of information remains the same, is replaced by something entirely different or is deleted from the device completely in order to free up storage space.
So while it's technically possible to at least get close to physically maxing out an Apple TV to it's maximum storage capacity, unlike conventional thinking, that doesn't mean you have run out of storage space. It just means you are about to lose some old data. So the question with an Apple TV now as far as storage space is concerned is, how often do I want to re-download data.
I actually kind of like it, naturally everyone will have different views on it. But for me, it's nice not having to think too much about storage space for a change. I'm happy to let the little box under the TV use it's black magic to make space for me as and when it needs it
It kind of is, particularly when it's designed to not let you run out of storage space. Normally when you use storage space it is a constant. It doesn't change unless you deliberately delete it, or add to it. And that's the concern we have with normal storage, that we are going to reach a point when we have added so much to it that we can no longer add anything new without some manual intervention.
But TvOS was designed, in a way, to free you from thinking too much about available physical storage because it doesn't use it in a typical way. That there are two different capacities of Apple TV is really just to afford a person the luxury of downloading the same data over and over again less often.
With TvOS, when you begin to approach the limit of your storage capacity it will begin to remove the oldest data which you have used least often. Therefore automatically creating new free space.
So while it can be nice to know how much physical storage space you might have left. Because of the way the system works, you'll never actually know how much "free space" you have. The notion of using a Byte of space isn't quite the same when you have no control over whether or not that Byte of information remains the same, is replaced by something entirely different or is deleted from the device completely in order to free up storage space.
So while it's technically possible to at least get close to physically maxing out an Apple TV to it's maximum storage capacity, unlike conventional thinking, that doesn't mean you have run out of storage space. It just means you are about to lose some old data. So the question with an Apple TV now as far as storage space is concerned is, how often do I want to re-download data.
I actually kind of like it, naturally everyone will have different views on it. But for me, it's nice not having to think too much about storage space for a change. I'm happy to let the little box under the TV use it's black magic to make space for me as and when it needs it
The apple tv uses the SAME storage as any other device. You're referring specifically to Software. The software does not make the storage abnormal.
The purpose of the topic is to find out the current state of the disk. How the software is acting is completely irrelevant and is a whole other topic in and of itself.
Even if it's a temporary figure, knowing how much storage is currently used is definitely helpful.
It tells you whether or not assets are being dumped to free storage, which in turn informs the decision on whether or not one would want the 32gb version or the 64gb version.
If the current used storage is anywhere close to capacity, you can expect some amount of redownloading of assets and app data when you use various apps. For any number of reasons, a person would want to know this (and avoid it, typically). So if the currently used storage is close to 32gb, then you're going to think strongly about a 64gb.
But if the currently used storage is well under 32gb, then you can make a determination whether or not you'd ever want a 64gb.
That really doesn't make a lot of sense. If I've got a game with 2gb of downloaded content, and it gets dumped to free space for other apps, I'm going to have to sit through a long download before I can continue using it.
Worse, what gets dumped when you re-download that 2gb game? What happens when you want to go back to that app?
Imagine having a handful of high-quality games (and 2gb of data is not very large for a game), each competing for space on the device. Switching back and forth between them could be a painful experience, one that could be completely eliminated with the 64gb ATV.
Avoiding data dumping is highly preferred.
Unfortunately that's exactly how the system works. We don't even get to save files on the Apple TV. We (developers) get 500kb of permanent storage space on the device. Beyond that we need to store everything in iCloud. Apple are being really controlling over storage space on the Apple TV. We're not even guaranteed that our app will remain installed. If the system ever gets to a serious shortage situation it can remove your app from the device, essentially just leaving a pointer to it and having it re-download the next time the user wants to use the app.
But that's what Apple appear to be aiming for with TvOS. The decision not to include any storage reporting was likely very deliberate. They seem to want a, sit back and don't think about it, approach to the storage and just let the os take care of controlling what is and isn't physically on the device.
Personally I don't much care, I've got really fast unlimited internet so I don't mind if things are downloading and re-downloading a lot. But not everyone is so fortunate so my advice has and always will be, if you can afford it, more is always better when it comes to storage space regardless of the device.
The smaller capacity won't stop you from doing anything and you might well never notice the difference if apps are programmed well and your internet can keep up, but it will mean you're downloading less frequently if you are a heavy user. If someone's mainly going to be streaming films and installing the occasional crossy road type of game then 32GB will easily meet their needs.
None of what you wrote is wrong. But really, as you say, it's almost impossible to know how much storage you're using and need (unless you download the free app).
Sure you can give generalizations like the above (which is absolutely true), but only helpful for those particular people. For the rest, for the people who download a lot of games, how do they know? How do they know if the slow loading screens are necessary, or completely avoidable if they had the 64gb? How do they know if they're *below* the magic threshold of 'a lot of games' which means they'd be fine with the 32gb?
Well, monitoring your storage will tell you whether you're encountering data dumping. It's that simple.
If your AppleTV is nearly full, you're very likely going to encounter regular (and very noticeable!) slow-downs as it re-downloads content. It will do this *regularly* as you switch between various apps.
So, the storage currently used is highly useful information to have, so you can avoid data-dumping (or avoid getting a 64gb when you don't really need it).
That's most certainly true, but another thing to consider is that if you are prone to downloading a lot of large apps, well they're likely to be games I suppose. Then you could well be facing regular large downloads anyway, regardless of how much local storage you have.
Beyond the 2GB of local temporary storage we also have access to 20GB of iCloud space to store assets in. And as games get more complex and visually impressive that space will be getting used. So large transfers are going to be a part of the experience anyway.
One way or another we're headed towards a likely future where good internet is more important than massive local storage space for these kinds of devices.