Three Ways to Save Space in iOS Device

To take full advantage of the new iPad’s 2048-by-1536-pixel display, apps need new versions of their graphics. That means bigger file sizes, even on older iOS devices. Soon, your 16GB iPhone or iPad may start complaining that it’s out of storage space.

Here are some ways to free up room on your app- and data-packed device.

Turn to iTunes Match

If you store a lot of music on your iOS device, and you can spare $25 per year, consider signing up for iTunes Match. With that service, Apple stores your music in iCloud; your entire music library appears on your iOS device without taking up storage space there. Once you’ve signed up for the service in iTunes on your Mac, you can remove music from your iOS device as needed to free up space.

Drop a Few Apps

When deleting apps, focus on the ones you use the least, in particular those that take up the most space. Go to Settings ? General ? Usage to see apps listed by size. GarageBand and iMovie each gobble up more than a gigabyte of storage space; if you never use them, now might be the time to bid them adieu. (Remember that you can always reinstall them from the App Store later.) You can delete apps from within the Usage screen: Tap the name of the app, and then tap the Delete App button.

Video can eat up space as well. While you can’t remove the Video app, you can delete individual videos you’ve stored in it. If you synced movies eons ago and no longer need them, remove those, too.

Photo Management

Photos and videos shot with your iOS device can take up just as much space as apps, particularly when recorded with the much-improved cameras on newer iPhones. So back up those photos and videos, and then get them off your iOS device. You can import your photos via Photo Stream, or connect your iOS device directly to your Mac and import the files that way. iPhoto offers to delete the photos and videos it imports. Another way to make quick work of deleting photos from your device is with Image Capture.

Tweaking settings can save you some space, too: Some third-party camera apps, like Instagram and Camera+, offer options to save your photos—only within the app, or within your Camera Roll as well. Instagram and others let you specify whether you want to save an original photo, the edited version, both, or neither.