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How to Get By with a 16GB iPhone 6

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16GB of storage on an iPhone isn’t much at all, but if it’s your only option, here’s how to get by with a 16GB iPhone 6.

We’ve discussed many times in the past about how you just shouldn’t get a 16GB iPhone or iPad, both for the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 5s, as well as the iPad mini and the new iPad Air 2. 16GB usually isn’t enough for a lot of users, and since iOS itself takes up a few gigabytes of space, you’re left with even less storage that you can work with.

Storage size can ultimately be the toughest decision when buying an iPhone, as you never know exactly how much space you’ll end up using, and the longer you own the device, the more apps and games that you’ll pile on over time, so important to choose the right storage size for this reason. However, if your budget doesn’t allow for anything better than a 16GB iPhone 6, the decision is pretty easy, but ultimately not the best.

In a lot of Android tablets, you don’t really need to think about what storage size to get, mainly because a lot of them come with microSD card slots that allow you to shove in an extra 64GB of storage whenever you need it, but the iPhone 6 doesn’t have that luxury, so you have to buy your storage with your device.

iPhone-6

If you’re stuck with a 16GB iPhone 6, not all hope is lost, and there are a few things that you can keep in mind to make sure that you’re not constantly running out of storage space.

Use the Cloud

Music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, photos, etc. usually take up the most storage on your iPhone, depending on how much you have exactly. However, you don’t have to store any of that on your iPhone if you take advantage of the cloud.

I’m not talking about Apple’s iCloud specifically, but rather different services that let you stream content or store content in the cloud.

Spotify

Instead of storing all of your music on your iPhone 6, consider using Spotify or Rdio to stream your music. If you want to watch a movie or TV show, use Netflix, Hulu Plus, or Amazon Instant Video. As long as you have an internet connection, you have a ton of music and video content at your fingertips.

For photos, consider storing them in Dropbox or Google Drive, and when you need to access them, just fire up the Dropbox or Google Drive app and view away. Again, you’ll need an internet connection to do this, which is the main drawback for using the cloud, but 95% of the time you can get a decent data signal. It’s usually the other 5% that’s the hardest to deal with, so think about if using the cloud is really your cup of tea.

Audit Your Apps Frequently

Apps themselves don’t take up a lot of space — usually under 200MB a piece for most, but additional data such as cache, history, etc. can add another couple hundred megabytes to that. Plus, if you intend on having a ton of apps, the storage required can really add up. There are also bigger apps like GarageBand, which can take up almost a gigabyte by itself.

The iPad supports more icons on a larger display. It would be nice to see this spread to an iPhone 6.

Obviously, the more apps you have, the more storage space is being taken up by these apps as a whole, and I’m sure we’ve all been there before: You download a handful of apps, but never actually end up using them except for maybe a couple of times per year.

These are the apps that you want to just get rid of. Every now and then, go through your apps and delete any of them that you haven’t used in a long time, as you’ll most likely never need them again. Doing this can constantly free up space on your 16GB iPhone 6.

Stick to Casual & Lightweight Games

Games can be one of the biggest culprits of storage hogging. Depending on the game, they can take up anywhere from a couple hundred megabytes, all the way up to several gigabytes. For instance, graphic-intensive titles like Real Racing 3 and Infinity Blade III can take up several gigabytes a piece, so if you have a 16GB iPhone 6, you may not be able to play these graphic-intensive games.

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However, there are a ton of casual and lightweight games that are just as fun. Tiny Wings, for example, is a really fun high-score game that takes up only 16MB of storage. Furthermore, Heads Up! is a great party game that you can play with friends, and it takes up less than 100MB.

Look for these types of games if you have a 16GB iPhone 6, but don’t quite want to give up mobile gaming altogether.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Tim

    12/02/2014 at 11:03 am

    “Get by”? Seriously? What a condescending article!!

    I’ve had a 16gb iPhone for three years, first in a 4s and now in a 6. Both were a matter of choice and not cash. In all that time, I’ve never filled up even half the storage space. Do you remember not so long ago we had less than that in our PCs?

    Really, most anyone that fills a phone up with that kind of space is just cluttering themselves up with garbage like they’d pack their garages with things that have little to no value. You’re a freaking phone pack rat!!

  2. Brett

    12/03/2014 at 3:58 pm

    What about that one Mophie case that gives you more storage?

  3. Tom Donahue

    12/07/2014 at 8:29 am

    Don’t upgrade to 8.11 if you use iTunes on your iPhone. No matter where you attempt to go in iTunes, the Apple Store appears on your screen instead. I can’t even play tunes I previously played on my IPhone4S. I have an iPhone5, but I had so many dropped calls and difficulty hearing I went back to the iPhone4. I listen to a lot of music on my iPhone4S, it’s now useless for music listening. I was going to upgrade to OX Yosemite, but over 1000 reviewers gave it two and a half stars. It seems that Apple has been going downhill ever since Steve Jobs died.

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