Optimise iPad storage not working for Photos

[mrochester]

Hello.

My iPad is on iPadOS 17 Beta 7 and I have Optimise iPad Storage for photos turned on.

However, I can see that photos is still using over 68GB of space and I cannot install the latest beta 8 due to the iPad complaining about now having enough storage space.

For nearly every beta so far I have had to offload apps to create enough space to install the beta because the iPad won't stop using so much space for photos.

Has anyone seen this bug and know of a way to resolve it? Wondering if I need to sign out of my iCloud account and sign back in again.

Many thanks.

M.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Hello.

My iPad is on iPadOS 17 Beta 7 and I have Optimise iPad Storage for photos turned on.

However, I can see that photos is still using over 68GB of space and I cannot install the latest beta 8 due to the iPad complaining about now having enough storage space.

For nearly every beta so far I have had to offload apps to create enough space to install the beta because the iPad won't stop using so much space for photos.

Has anyone seen this bug and know of a way to resolve it? Wondering if I need to sign out of my iCloud account and sign back in again.

Many thanks.

M.

I can offer an explanation but not a solution.

Apple wording is that if Optimise is selected it will store full size local copies if there is sufficient space. In other words the "Optimise" option does not force all photos to be stored only in iCloud. It tries to keep as many full size local copies as there is room for.

The problem is that Apple doesn't say what "sufficient space" is, which causes problems like yours.

I ran into on my Mac. I wanted to have an optimised Photos library but didn't want it using up all the storage. I solved it on Mac by creating an extra space sharing APFS volume with a specified max size, and put the iCPL on that. But you can't do that on iPad.

 

[mrochester]

I can offer an explanation but not a solution.

Apple wording is that if Optimise is selected it will store full size local copies if there is sufficient space. In other words the "Optimise" option does not force all photos to be stored only in iCloud. It tries to keep as many full size local copies as there is room for.

The problem is that Apple doesn't say what "sufficient space" is, which causes problems like yours.

I ran into on my Mac. I wanted to have an optimised Photos library but didn't want it using up all the storage. I solved it on Mac by creating an extra space sharing APFS volume with a specified max size, and put the iCPL on that. But you can't do that on iPad.

I understand it’ll store as many full sized versions if there is sufficient space, but my iPad is not creating space by removing full sized photos when it needs the space.

 

[mrochester]

I understand it’ll store as many full sized versions if there is sufficient space, but my iPad is not creating space by removing full sized photos when it needs the space.

Looks like beta 8 has sorted this out as it has now reduced my photos from 68GB to 2.6GB.

 

[Mike Boreham]

I understand it’ll store as many full sized versions if there is sufficient space, but my iPad is not creating space by removing full sized photos when it needs the space.

Yes that is the problem I don't have a solution for. It is supposed to do as you imply....release space when it needed, and I think it does this sometimes to a degree, but maybe not if there is a sudden sizeable demand.

 

[akerr]

Sometimes a restart forces optimising photo storage? Filed as FB14579887.