Technologies

You Can Free Up iPhone Storage Without Deleting Anything Important

If you don’t want to permanently get rid of your favorite apps, offline movies and text message threads — you don’t have to.

If storage is tight on your iPhone, you have very few options. You can of course delete large files, like downloaded TV shows, movies and albums, but maybe you don’t really want to give these up. There are also various cloud options, but that requires shifting files around and deleting things. Or maybe you could buy a new phone with more internal storage, but that can be expensive.

That’s why, if these options aren’t appealing to you, you can and should take advantage of certain iOS features to free up storage without having to delete anything or spend money.

That’s right. There are two built-in iOS settings that can help you clean up a significant amount of storage on your iPhone — one permanent and the other temporary — so that you can install the latest software update, take more photos and videos and download more apps. Here’s what you need to know.

If you want more tips on getting more iPhone storage, check out how to free up space on your iPhone with these easy tricks and the best cloud storage options in 2022.

Optimize your iPhone photos and videos

It’s not always easy to just delete what’s in your camera roll, so if you want to keep your precious memories, or even just your meme screenshots, but still want to free up device storage, the easiest way to do that is by optimizing the photos and videos already stored on your device.

By default, every time you take a photo or video, it is saved in full-resolution on your device. If you’re capturing photos and videos in the highest resolution possible, they can take up quite a bit of space. A minute of video shot in 4K at 60fps takes up approximately 400MB — nearly half a GB. That’s pretty significant.

To optimize your photos and videos, go to Settings > Photos and toggle on Optimize iPhone Storage (for this to work, you’ll need to have the iCloud Photos setting above it enabled). Depending on how many photos and videos you have on your iPhone, this can take up quite a bit of time, but once it’s finished, you should see significant more space on your device storage.

All of your full-resolution photos and videos are then transferred over to your iCloud, while smaller, lower-resolution versions are kept on your device, to take up less space. If you want to access your higher-resolution photos and videos, you can go into the Photos app and download any file that’s being optimized, but this requires a decent internet connection. Your more recently taken photos and videos may exist in full-resolution, so you won’t need to download every photo or video.

If you don’t have enough iCloud storage, it’s easier to upgrade your cloud than get a new phone. In the US, you can upgrade to 50GB for only a dollar a month, or you can go bigger: 200GB for $3 a month or 2TB for $10 a month. Prices range depending on your country or region.

To upgrade your iCloud on your iPhone, go to Settings > (your name) > iCloud > Manage Account Storage > Buy More Storage. Choose a plan and then follow the instructions. If you upgrade to any paid iCloud subscription, you’ll get access to iCloud+, which also offers the iCloud Private Relay and Hide My Email features.

Offload your biggest apps

You don’t use every application stored on your iPhone. Many of them just sit there, like apps for your favorite airlines, third-party cameras and music production. And even if you use them only every once in a while, you probably don’t need consistent, daily access to most apps, which is why you should consider offloading apps in case you desperately need storage.

Say for example you want to download and install the latest iOS update. If it’s a major update, like iOS 16, you may need a little over 5GB to successfully install the software. If it’s a point update, like iOS 16.1, you’re looking at around 1GB. And if you don’t have enough storage space to update, you can quickly offload apps, which is a middle ground between keeping and deleting your apps.

Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage and check which apps are taking up the most storage. Certain built-in apps like Photos and Messages cannot be offloaded, so be warned. If you find a sizable app you want to offload, tap on it and hit Offload App. Wait a little bit and the app should then be removed offline, while your documents and data will stay saved on your device.

If you need temporary storage, for a software download, just go through the list and offload every app you can. The amount that’s offloaded for each app will vary, but you should see the number next to App Size. Discard the number next to Documents & Data, because that will stay on your device. The only way to get rid of that is to actually delete the app.

Offload as many apps as you need until you have enough storage. Obviously you can’t use an app that’s offloaded, but if you want to get an offloaded app back, go to your App Library and tap on the iCloud button to redownload it. If the offloaded app is on your home screen, simply tap on it to download it. You won’t have to re-sign in or anything — you’ll have access to the app as if it was never deleted.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for May 18, #237

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 237, for May 18.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

The blue group in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle played on my Gen X heart. If you know your classic video games, you’re golden here. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Not lose.

Green group hint: A baseball out.

Blue group hint: Glass Joe.

Purple group hint: Think Chicago.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Win

Green group: Strike out

Blue group: Classic sports video games

Purple group: Associated with Michael Jordan.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is win. The four answers are dub, triumph, victory and W.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is strike out. The four answers are fan, K, ring up and whiff.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is classic sports video games. The four answers are NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, Punch-Out and Tecmo Bowl.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with Michael Jordan. The four answers are 23, 6 rings, His Airness and Last Dance.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 18, #707

Hints and answers for Connections for May 18, #707.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle is a mix of difficult and easy. The purple category does what most purple categories do, and makes you really break down how you think about the words. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: School days.

Green group hint: About there!

Blue group hint: Sure, let’s go.

Purple group hint: The Scarlett Letter.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Tasks for a student.

Green group: Encouraging responses in a guessing game.

Blue group: Up for anything.

Purple group: What «A» might mean.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is tasks for a student. The four answers are assignment, drill, exercise and lesson.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is encouraging responses in a guessing game. The four answers are almost, close, not quite and warm.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is up for anything. The four answers are easy, flexible, game and open.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is what «A» might mean. The four answers are area, athletic, excellent and one.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 18, #441

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 441 for May 18.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands will probably be easier if you have some basic knowledge about a certain type of vessel. You don’t really need to have ever been on one, since the answers show up in books and movies all the time. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Riding the wind.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: famed song by Christopher Cross.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

DULL, TILE, TILER, SEER, GALE, GALES, HAIL, SAIL, LEEK, GLUE, HALL, TALL, HEAT

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

HELM, HULL, KEEL, MAST, STERN, RIGGING, RUDDER, TILLER

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is SAILBOAT. To find it, start with the S that’s four letters down on the farthest row to the left, then wind across, up and down.