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★ Note to Self: It’s the Storage Space, Stupid

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Last night I speculated that the slow uptake of iOS 8 was about people not trusting Apple with iOS software updates — too many bugs, and too many friends and family members talking about those bugs. I still think there’s something to that angle.

But it’s very clear that I was wrong about what the primary factor is. The simple answer was staring me right in the face. It’s all about the over-the-air update requiring 5 GB of free storage space, and many people not having that much free space, and not knowing how or simply not wanting to deal with it.

I don’t think I have ever received so much reader feedback on a post in the history of Daring Fireball. Hundreds of emails. Dozens and dozens of replies on Twitter. All of them saying the exact same thing: that either they themselves or people they know want to upgrade to iOS 8 but haven’t yet or can’t because the OTA software update won’t fit on their devices.

Jonathan Hoover puts it well:

iOS 8 OTA update requires about 5GB of free space on the device. Most people, especially those who wouldn’t update until they get the badge on the settings app, don’t have 5GB free on their iPhone. They have no idea they can plug their iPhone into their computer and iTunes will update it. They don’t know they can free up space by downloading their pictures and videos to their computer. 

iPhone makes it so easy for casual users to take gigabytes of photos and videos but nearly impossible for those users to know what to do with them.

This is a serious problem for Apple, because all those 16 GB devices (let alone the 8 GB ones) aren’t going to suddenly gain more free storage space on their own. A lot of these devices might never get updated to iOS 8, but would if the OTA software worked. Unless they can rejigger the OTA software update to require less free space, iOS 8’s adoption rate might lag permanently. 1

Which in turn brings to mind one of the closing paragraphs of my review of the new iPhones 6:

But I don’t understand why the entry level storage tier remained at a meager 16 GB. That seems downright punitive given how big panoramic photos and slo-mo HD videos are, and it sticks out like a sore thumb when you look at the three storage tiers together: 32/64/128 looks natural; 16/64/128 looks like a mistake. The original iPhone, seven years and eight product generations ago, had an 8 GB storage tier. The entry-level iPhones 6 are 50 times faster than that original iPhone, but have only twice the storage capacity. That’s just wrong. This is the single-most disappointing aspect of the new phones.

iOS itself takes up about 4 GB, so these 16 GB devices only have about 12 GB free right out of the box. If there is any way that Apple could have brought the base model storage up to 32 GB with the new iPhones, they should have. And it’s inexcusable that they’re still selling new devices with only 8 GB of storage.


  1. One small thing Apple could do: when alerting the user that there isn’t enough space to install the update, they could provide a link to this support article — “Resolve issues with an over-the-air iOS update” — which is actually quite helpful. 

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gslife
3696 days ago
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What makes you think he's not serious about the space issue?
mcormier
3696 days ago
Some people have decided that Gruber is a complete Apple shill and assume that when he's being critical that it's just for show. Either that or martinbaum is being a troll and looking to get a rise out of people.
martinbaum
3695 days ago
When you've read Gruber as long as I have (more or less every day since before the iPhone) you've just got to grin when he sinks his teeth into a relatively unimportant issue to "bash" Apple. It's like a kitten playing with a mouse its mother has given it. I don't think he's a complete Apple shill, but I'll bet he was trembling as he hit the send button. At least Katie Cotton isn't there any more to swat him.
martinbaum
3695 days ago
And yes, I do think he foregrounds his "negative" press now and then to preserve the appearance of independence. He'll never, ever go further than this, though.
mcormier
3695 days ago
I like the part where I mention that you could be a troll and you come back with a nice intelligent answer. I think getting people to upgrade is an important issue for Apple, they like to brag about how quick adoption is. It increases security/reliability and perceived usefulness of the devices.
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lywyn
3694 days ago
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It's not a space issue because the few people I know who have that issue have used itunes to upgrade. My kids both have iphones and enough space to upgrade. After the 7 roll out with a few bug releases shipping quite soon after, they are choosing to wait for a bit so they only do one upgrade. After reviewing the few hundred company iphones at work it's the same issue, plenty of space but people just waiting for the stable release.
very large rock orbiting a sun
martinbaum
3696 days ago
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It's so cute when Gruber pretends he's indignant at Apple.

App Store Top Lists and App Rot

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Marco Arment:

Quality, sustainability, and updates are almost irrelevant to App Store success and usually aren’t rewarded as much as we think they should be, and that’s mostly the fault of Apple’s lazy reliance on top lists instead of more editorial selections and better search.

The best thing Apple could do to increase the quality of apps is remove every top list from the App Store.

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gslife
3767 days ago
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And people say Gruber doesn't post negative comments about Apple. He's on a roll with his last three.
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Google Plus and Gmail, Sitting in a Tree

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Dante D’Orazio, reporting for The Verge:

A new Gmail setting lets you choose whether you want people to be able to send an email to your Google+ profile — even if they don’t have your email address in their contacts. […]

By default, the setting will allow anyone on Google+ to send you an email through Gmail. To be clear, Gmail users will be able to type anyone’s name into the recipient field and even if you don’t know that person’s email address. Google will auto-suggest the names of Google+ users, though your actual email address will not be revealed unless you reply to the email.

This has to be a mistake. Surely Google will change this from opt-out to opt-in.

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gslife
3968 days ago
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Total strangers can't do that if they don't know your email. With this, they can do it if they know your name, right? Or at least if they can find you on Google+.
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GuuZ
3966 days ago
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Omegod, dumpen die rotzooi!
donmcarthur
3968 days ago
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Typical Gruber reaction to a non-story as long as it involves Google. Get this - total strangers can already email you.
habeebhashim
3968 days ago
Get this - total strangers don't get an option to find my email just be some name autocompletion that G+ throws up as an option. They can spam me if they know my email but not with just a name. Having said that, the G+ option is only for contacts I have in my circle, so it should be fine. Still should be an opt-in, not something that I need to opt-out off. I'm still heavily invested in Gmail and Maps, though I've turned G+, Picassa and others off. Email and Maps works great for me as I rarely use the web interface anyway. Have native apps for iOS or Mac or PC, so this doesn't affect me that much.
donmcarthur
3968 days ago
Google+ users could always email each other, without the sender being advised of the recipients' email address. You can turn that off. Gruber's outrage is a function of his hatred of Google, you don't have to adopt it. Get a fucking grip. (BTW, I use Apple as desktop, smartphone and tablet, exclusively.)
habeebhashim
3967 days ago
Maybe G+ users could always email each. But was there an option before for Gmail users to email G+ users automatically? No. Gruber says that that should have been an opt-in. Not an opt-out. And I agree. And I don't give a rats arse that you use Apple hardware exclusively. I'm platform agnostic btw and google is the glue that sticks all my hardware together.
anthonylatta
3968 days ago
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Must remember to disable this next week. Google+ killed Reader.
Washington, DC
adamcole
3968 days ago
One of 2014's resolutions was "divorce Gmail." I guess that got moved up the timetable...
digdoug
3967 days ago
Let me know what you use to get out of gmail. I can't seem to find anything I like as much.
sherif
3966 days ago
Fastmail. I love it.

Instagram Video and the Death of Fantasy

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Jenna Wortham:

But while that shaky video that I took on the roof was definitely steeped in reality and definitely true to the moment, it wasn’t the version of the night that I wanted to remember or share with my Instagram friends.

That’s because Instagram isn’t about reality – it’s about a well-crafted fantasy, a highlights reel of your life that shows off versions of yourself that you want to remember and put on display in a glass case for other people to admire and browse through. It’s why most of the photographs uploaded to Instagram are beautiful and entertaining slices of life and not the tedious time in-between of those moments, when bills get paid, cranky children are put to bed, little spats with friends.

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gslife
4165 days ago
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Spot on.
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fabuloso
4164 days ago
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Those brainstorm sessions for instagram video must of been exciting.
Miami Beach, FL

Twenty Covers From the U.S. Space Program

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They don’t make them like they used to. (Via Jim Coudal.)

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gslife
4247 days ago
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