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New iPad app sizes going to fill up iPhone memory too?

gmikesell

gmikesell

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 31, 2009
259
55
Just curious if there is a consensus about how the new app sizes might affect iPhones? This might be a stupid question but I just bought a 16gb iPhone 4S about 3 weeks ago at Best Buy and have until next Wednesday to do an exchange to a 32gb size if needed. I only have about 6gb of space left now but a year from now, after all the apps are upgraded to accommodate higher resolutions, I'm concerned about have any memory left. Any thoughts on this?
 
lordofthereef said:
The bigger apps are going to be ipad specific. I don;t think you have much to worry about.
Click to expand...

It will affect those apps that are Universal (EDIT: beaten to it on the Universal statement). Some apps will not need to get too much bigger, maybe 10%, while some others will grow a lot. Apple's own apps have apparently grown a lot in size, but I think a lot of that will be because of new features.

I have a 16GB iPhone 4 and a 16GB iPad. Both are easily filled, so I am regularly deleting this to clear some space. But since getting the iPad, it has not been so much of a problem with the phone because I am OK with storing a lot of the stuff to be on the iPad only.

If you can still change to the 32GB, give it a lot of thought.
 
This is an interesting topic,

I guess for the universal apps it'd increase the size.

A confirmation would be nice.
 
The reason this came to my mind is a recent update (yesterday) increased my app size by a little over 500mb. That was for about 10-15 apps. This is when I started to get concerned. Really appreciating the feedback/discussion here, about this!
 
gmikesell said:
The reason this came to my mind is a recent update (yesterday) increased my app size by a little over 500mb. That was for about 10-15 apps. This is when I started to get concerned. Really appreciating the feedback/discussion here, about this!
Click to expand...

What apps are we talking about? And did the change log reflect that the changes had been made for iPad compatibility?
 
ct2k7 said:
Look at the iWork suit, it's been inflated massively. Pages alone.
Click to expand...

All of Apple's apps have inflated (and have also been given more features aside from just doubling resolution). I don't think the average Joe is running around with iWork suite on their iPhone though. :p
 
Ah! I see just now, that I have a Pandora app update ready to go. It's universal AND change log indicates the update is for iPad retina compatibility. I'll do this update and pay close attention to size. I'll update in just a few.

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gmikesell said:
Ah! I see just now, that I have a Pandora app update ready to go. It's universal AND change log indicates the update is for iPad retina compatibility. I'll do this update and pay close attention to size. I'll update in just a few.
Click to expand...

ok, that was interesting. Just updated Pandora. It weighed in at 13.3mb before update and jumped up to 17.8mb after update. That would be an increase of 4.5mb (about 35%). Hmmm, I'm thinking I may be going ahead and exchanging my 16gb iPhone for a 32gb one. What a pain, to have to set up a new phone all over again. ugh!
 
This has been bugging me for some time, and with bigger retina apps for the ipad, I assume it's gonna get worse...

How can I avoid all apps syncing to all devices? for example, keep children's games bought in the iPad from syncing to my iPhone, or a specific business app in my iPhone out of my iPod or iPad...?
 
diazj3 said:
This has been bugging me for some time, and with bigger retina apps for the ipad, I assume it's gonna get worse...

How can I avoid all apps syncing to all devices? for example, keep children's games bought in the iPad from syncing to my iPhone, or a specific business app in my iPhone out of my iPod or iPad...?
Click to expand...

In iTunes, just jack your device in and under the apps tab, select the apps you want on that device or deselect the apps you don't want. Pretty much all there is to it. However, this won't help if you have universal apps that you want on both devices (iPad and iPhone). I just saw a 35% size increase (for the Pandora app) on my iPhone, strictly updating for the new iPad retina display.
 
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If you have the chance to swap for more memory, I'd say do it. Certain apps (games mostly but still) hit around the 800 MB mark after install, and if you only have 6 gigs left after just three weeks, chances are good you'll probably fill it up long before the year's out. Better to get more space than spent the rest of the year managing it. I have a 32 GB and I kinda wish I got the 64. :\
 
I never understood why apps are so large with ios versus windows or android. Some apps are 250% larger comparing between identical apps.

Is this cause of screen resolution?

I would have got an iphone with larger storage if I would have known the apps were bigger.
 
lordofthereef said:
I'm not going to get into an argument bud. I think you know what I meant. If not, I am not sure there is much more I can say to get my point across to you.
Click to expand...

I do know what you mean, but around here, well in my peer group, of those who have an iPhone, iMovie, although it had features added, is one of the most popular applications amongst the group.
 
gmikesell said:
Ah! I see just now, that I have a Pandora app update ready to go. It's universal AND change log indicates the update is for iPad retina compatibility. I'll do this update and pay close attention to size. I'll update in just a few.

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ok, that was interesting. Just updated Pandora. It weighed in at 13.3mb before update and jumped up to 17.8mb after update. That would be an increase of 4.5mb (about 35%). Hmmm, I'm thinking I may be going ahead and exchanging my 16gb iPhone for a 32gb one. What a pain, to have to set up a new phone all over again. ugh!
Click to expand...

u have icloud right?
 
irDigital0l said:
u have icloud right?
Click to expand...

Yes, but I can't run apps on the cloud can I? As far as I'm aware, I need them installed on the phone in order to execute them. Downloading them from the cloud and then deleting them after I'm done sounds a lot less than desirable compared to just getting a 32gb iPhone.
 
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