I'm dealing with a frustrating issue where the Photos app on both my iPhone (256GB) and iPad mini (64GB) is consuming around 20GB of space. This is especially problematic on my iPad. I've checked everything online regarding settings, and I've ensured that iCloud storage, disk optimization, and iCloud sync are all set up properly. I still have about 700GB left in iCloud, and my devices are fully updated and have been restarted several times while connected to Wi-Fi. Most troubleshooting suggestions seem to have been exhausted at this point. I recently spoke with ChatGPT and Claude, who mentioned that Shared Albums could be the culprit. They explained that while my main iCloud Photos library can use the "Optimize Storage" feature to save space, content in Shared Albums is generally stored locally. I'm unsure if they're right, but I do have a lot of shared albums. Can anyone confirm this? And if they're mistaken, what else could be causing this excessive data usage?
2 Answers
That sounds really annoying! You're not alone in this; many users find that even with optimization, the Photos app uses a significant amount of space. It might be worth considering if you really need all those shared albums. Each one can take up local space, leading to your current situation. Unfortunately, managing photo storage for multiple devices can get complicated, particularly if you're keeping many albums shared across them. You could potentially look into storing older photos on external drives or NAS to free up space on your devices.
It sounds like you might be hitting the limits of how shared albums work. Basically, shared albums don't optimize storage like your main iCloud library does, which means they can take up more space on your device. This could explain why you're seeing such a large footprint on your iPad compared to what you expect. Just to clarify, even with optimization turned on, you still need some storage for your device to keep recent photos accessible. If you're seeing 20GB being used, it's likely you have a few hundred GB in iCloud for all your photos. That said, it does seem excessive!
Yeah, it's pretty wild! If your devices are using 20GB for optimized photos, you could have anywhere from 200GB to 400GB of iCloud storage used by those same photos. It can be frustrating when you think you're saving space but still running into issues.
Exactly! It helps to clear things out or find alternative storage options to keep your device manageable. Just keep enough recent photos so the app can still function well.