this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2025
183 points (93.8% liked)

Apple

19608 readers
106 users here now

Welcome

to the largest Apple community on Lemmy. This is the place where we talk about everything Apple, from iOS to the exciting upcoming Apple Vision Pro. Feel free to join the discussion!

Rules:
  1. No NSFW Content
  2. No Hate Speech or Personal Attacks
  3. No Ads / Spamming
    Self promotion is only allowed in the pinned monthly thread

Lemmy Code of Conduct

Communities of Interest:

Apple Hardware
Apple TV
Apple Watch
iPad
iPhone
Mac
Vintage Apple

Apple Software
iOS
iPadOS
macOS
tvOS
watchOS
Shortcuts
Xcode

Community banner courtesy of u/Antsomnia.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
MichelleG@lemmy.world
RoyalEngineering@lemmy.world
thisisdee@lemmy.world
183
Am I the only one that finds this absurd? (infosec.pub)
submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by turkalino@lemmy.yachts to c/apple_enthusiast@lemmy.world
45 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Is there anything I can do about this extremely vague block of data that’s taking up 30% of my phone’s storage? Mind you, this isn’t the operating system itself, as that’s listed as its own category.

EDIT: I tried (a) backing up to my computer, factory resetting, then restoring from backup and (b) setting the date years in the future. Neither worked, in fact (a) actually increased my system data to 34 GB! What DID end up working was updating my iOS from 18 to 26, which I had to do from my computer via iTunes since my phone was full. Apparently major system updates reset system data

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] henfredemars 16 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I don't like the lack of a meaningful explanation. "System Data" might as well be "stuff" and I don't trust it.

Then again, Apple is known for their toddler-compatible interfaces. Maybe they thought that an actual explanation or breakdown would be too complicated and scary for their average user.

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 weeks ago

I mean... Caches, logs, and other system data currently in use by the system is a fairly decent explanation. Computers need space to put stuff while it's working. It's not particularly odd to not go to extremes labeling the contents of the junk pile that'll get discarded if anything comes up.

Linux is about as open as a system can be and it has several piles of roughly undocumented junk that can be difficult to know exactly what they contain.

There's nothing about it to "not trust". If it wanted to hide something from you it wouldn't tell you it was there and refuse to explain fully, it would just not tell you at all. It's not like you can check it's work.