I've enabled the "Optimize iPhone Storage" feature on my iPhone 16, but it doesn't seem to be working as well as I'd hoped. Right now, it's using over 10 GB of storage, which is a small fraction of my total library size, but still feels excessive. It keeps expanding and taking up all my available space. When I delete other files, it seems to reclaim that space again within a few days. This issue started with iOS 18, and I've noticed it in versions 26.1 and 26.2. It's getting frustrating since I can't even take new photos at times because my storage is full. Is there any way to manage this better?
1 Answer
You might want to consider how much storage your device has overall and check your iCloud storage situation. If your phone is completely full, it could be worth upgrading your iCloud plan or looking into a device with more memory. Just keep in mind, if you have a lot of content on your phone, it’s bound to fill up, and optimizing isn’t always a magic fix!
My iCloud has plenty of free space. My complaint is about local iPhone storage. The whole point of 'Optimize Photos Storage' is to reduce local storage.