22:43
The second version of the iOS 9 beta has a useful feature that temporarily deletes some of your apps while you update iOS if you don't have any available storage, MacRumors reported Tuesday.
Once the update is installed, your apps will supposedly re-install automatically.
So,
if you're trying to update your iPhone's software but the device
doesn't have enough space, a popup alert will appear saying:
Insufficient
Space For Download. In order to make room for the software update, some
apps will need to be temporarily deleted. All deleted apps will
automatically be replaced after the update is complete. Would you like
to continue?
It's not clear whether this automatic storage
management feature will work when you update to iOS 9 from iOS 8 or if
it will work after you install iOS 9. Either way, it could ensure that
every user can download and install the latest updates on their iOS
devices, no matter how much or how little space they may have left.
For
example, those with 16 GB iOS devices would normally delete and
re-install apps manually upon receiving the alert that their device
didn't have enough space for a new iOS update. Apple's new feature
essentially automates this process for them.
At
its WWDC event earlier this month, Apple revealed that its iOS 9 update
will be a much smaller file size - just 1.3 GB - compared to iOS 8,
which was a whopping 4.58 GB. This caused frustration among customers,
and iOS 8 adoption rates suffered due to the sheer size of the file. At
the time, however, Apple made no mention of this space-saving feature,
and whether or not it would be available to use for the iOS 9 update.
Another
space saving measure in iOS 9 that Apple didn't mention at WWDC is "app
thinning," which installs slimmer version of apps without the features
that your iOS device may not support. For example, if an app has an
Apple Pay feature but you have an older iPhone that's not compatible
with Apple Pay, the parts of the app that specifically use Apple Pay
won't be installed on your phone, which saves storage space.
So,
while iOS 8 got off to a rough start, the automatic storage management
feature in iOS 9 could eliminate this storage obstacle that affected
certain users more than others. And if more iOS devices update to iOS 9,
Apple can dedicate more resources towards newer versions of iOS instead
of spending energy on maintaining the older versions.
