It may happen that over time the storage space of your iPhone or iPad is full, then you unfortunately have to take action and, for example, delete applications and come up with alternatives. Usually the cause is cache files that apps have collected over time.
The cache files are usually temporary data that the app stores to access information faster. This usually concerns images, web pages and other data. By removing this you can free up storage space on your iPhone or iPad, but unfortunately it’s not that easy.
What are cache files
iPhone app cache files are temporary data that the app stores to quickly access information such as images, web pages, and other data. They help improve performance by reducing loading times and minimizing the amount of data that needs to be downloaded from the Internet.
Delete cache files
If you want to delete the temporary storage of apps on an iPhone or iPad, it is unfortunately not that easy. In general, applications do not have a button built in that lets you immediately clear the used storage. You will then have to manually clear the cache. You can only do this by removing the application from your iPhone or iPad and then reinstalling it.
Check temporary storage
- Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad
- Navigate to ‘General’
- Choose ‘[apparaat]-storage’
- View the list and storage used
- Tap an app
- Check the storage space under ‘Documents and data’
The storage used that you will find under ‘Documents and data’ are the cache files. It is good to realize what kind of application it concerns. In our example we are using Feedly and the storage used is for initial articles, information and images that were completely downloaded while using the app, but are now no longer relevant.
For example, for social media apps, this could be images and videos from your timeline saved in the background to make the app work faster. This is unnecessary and it is a good idea to clear the cache every now and then for extra storage space.
Delete app cache
To clear the cache of most iPhone and iPad apps, you need to uninstall the application from your device and then reinstall it. Read our manual to delete apps on an iPhone or iPad to see how to do this step by step. You can then download and install the application again via the App Store.
Delete cache on a Mac
On a Mac, you can use third-party apps to easily remove temporary storage from your Mac. A good application for this is CleanMyMac This will help your Mac perform optimally again and free up extra storage space.
But that’s not all, the Mac app can also scan for malware, protect privacy, completely uninstall apps and much more.
MacPaw’s newest app is CleanMy®Phone, an application designed to carefully remove digital clutter and free up space for new memories on iPhone and iPad. For now, this application is limited to the photo library and hopefully in the future it can also clear app cache files.