Is There a Fix for Apple Music Caching Songs and Taking Up All My Storage?

By Joey G, 5 March, 2016

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Greetings. I wonder if anyone else in this community has experienced the following. This seems to be an issue with Apple Music, as I will explain shortly. I have both an IPhone 5S and an iPad 2 mini, both of which are only 16 GB devices. I use my ipad for the most part to listen to music and play with other types of media, particularly when I'm at home. I have noticed that it only has around 5 MB of storage left, while the iPhone has around 4.8 GB of free space. Here is the issue. I think I have traced this problem to a bug with apple music. Since I use it on the ipad all the time, it seems to be storing cached data in the devices memory and not getting rid of it, which can be the only reason my ipad is low on storage. I have checked all the space that each app is using, and there is no possible way that all the 10 apps on my ipad are using 11 GB.
The IPhone on the other hand has 4.8 GB of space, and I have hardly used Apple Music at all on the phone. The only way to fix this problem I have found is to complete erase and reset the device, which clears out all cached datta. Has anyone else had this issue, and if so, is there another possible way of fixing it, rather than completely restoring? I have reported this bug to apple way back in august, but obviously, nothing has been done about it. Just for the record, I have done hours of research on this very problem before posting here. I hope this makes sence. Thanks much.

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Comments

By KE7ZUM on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

Use memmory cleaner and disk scanner to clear the junk off of your devices. The reason I suggest this is because it's not a bug. These are cache files. Here is a link to the app. I bought the pro version for like $1 or something.

By Joey G on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

thanks. I got the app, made the purchase, and did a disk scanou However, it seemed to only free up about 500 MB of space. If Apple music is caching files, there has to be much much more that it's not catching. Can't say I'm too impressed with the app, but maybe I'm doing something wrong, or my standards are too high.

By Fatima.Hamoud10 on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

Deleting the songs that you don't listen to from your iCloud Music Library.

By KE7ZUM on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

I've freed up over 3-4 gigs of cache files, mostly facebook I think. Just keep using the app, it really does help, and you just gained 500 mb of space you didn't know you lost. Lol! But as one of the posters suggested try removing what you dont' listen to from icloud library, if you have that set up.

By Toonhead on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

There's a cool app I heard about called Memory and Disc Scanner Pro. It clears out cached data on your iPhone or other iDevice, so that may do the trick. I run it every so often or whenever I delete a significant amount of stuff.

Yes sir, I believe that is the very app we are talking about at the moment. I'll keep trying, and see if it makes a difference. I'll also try the icloud suggestion, but that doesn't make as much sence. I'll try anything at this point though, as long as I don't have to keep rebooting once every few weeks.

By treky fan on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

After hearing about this app, I decided to buy it. Big mistake. The only thing it seems to do is tell you how much disk space you have left, and other things like that. There is no way to clean your device using this app. So my advice, don't waist your money.

By IceQueen1 on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

When that happened to me, I usually go to settings >music> iCloud music library And toggle it off and then back on again. That usually clears up a lot of space. But that hasn't happened to me lately. I only have that issue when I first started. Hope this helps.

By Joey G on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

Thanks to everyone. As crazy as it sounded, I did disable my icloud music library, and it worked. I just freeed up 6 GB of space. It just goes to show you that no matter how crazy suggestions sound, try them. As far as the memory app, it actually does work a little in improving performance. I did buy it. What's one buck? grins. Thanks again.

By Toonhead on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

After you run Memory and Disc Scanner pro, it'll show you how much memory you have and how much junk was actually deleted. hit the close button and you're good. So yes, the app does in fact work as advertised.

By KE7ZUM on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

In reply to by treky fan

@treky fan actually there is a way as I use it. go to disk and then go to scan. You then run your finger up until you see an ok button. Hit tht, and wait for the scan to finish If you see a storage full dialogue tap done then wait for the scan to finish. when you explore by touch and see the close button flick left and you will see how much was cleared. I love this app and run it every 2-3 days. it just rocks! I did a podcast on this some months ago.

By Roxann Pollard on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

I am a heavy Apple Music user and the only way I found to clean up the memory issue is as others have posted. Turn off iCloud Music Library. Open the Music icon and wait until all things that only live in iCloud to disappear. Then reactivate the iCloud Music Library and choose Merge. Then reopen the Music app and wait until all iCloud Music has resynced back to your device. After doing these steps I have consistently found the amount of storage reclaimed to be quite significant.

I know that you have already done these steps but I just wanted to confirm it really is quite effective.

By KE7ZUM on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

What if though you don't have icloud music library even on. I noticed that it still takes up space, even if you dont' have apple music. When you stream it caches the file but failes to remove it afterwords. This is when I use memory cleaner and disk scanner. It might not work all the time, but works grate.

By Apple-pie on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

Hello and thanks for your suggestions. I haven't tried to switch off and on the icloud library. Haven't even had this idea. Today I found another app that helped. It's called imazing. It's a complete data manager for iOS devices. So it costs $34,95. Before I buy it I'll try the options mantioned aabove and test imazing during the trial period. But maybe someone is looking for a managing app for the iphone instead of itunes.

Hi. I just checked the appstore for the app mentioned here called Imazing, and I didn't find anything that looked like a data manager. Plenty of Imogy apps and a few puzzle games and such. Perhaps it's not in the US appstore, or you might wanna make sure the spelling you're giving is correct.

By Apple-pie on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

Hello and sorry, you can find the App on https://imazing.com for Mac OS X or for Windows. I only tried the Mac Version.

By KE7ZUM on Saturday, March 26, 2016 - 12:22

Waltr does the same thing. And they are working on accessibility of said app.

Take care.

By ric on Saturday, November 26, 2016 - 12:22

From what I can gather, the iphone caches the music so that it can use the info in iTunes.
On your phone open up the iTunes app, scroll down the page and sign out.
Then power off the phone.
Then Power up the phone again.
Sign in to iTunes using app
Check your memory and you will find it has increased substantially as the cache has been fully cleared.

By joey on Saturday, November 26, 2016 - 12:22

In reply to by ric

I started to freak out that apple music was creating all these cache files that took up my remaining 3GB on my phone. I tried what you suggested with the itunes log out and restart and it worked!! I feel so relieved. Thank you so much.

By Saqib on Saturday, November 26, 2016 - 12:22

Hi. You need to run that app atleast 3 times and you need to re-boot your phone for each time you run the scan. I find that it removes more cash that way as it fails to delete all junk files on the first run. I run this app every month as I have a 64GB 6S Plus! Therefore I don't need to run it every other day but if you own a 16GB device, then it's best to run the app twice per week. I find that Facebook, Music and games do store alott of junk files over time. Also remember to delete photos from the deleted photos folder as just deleting photos won't free up space. You have to clear them out from the deleted photos folder as this folder is like a recycle bin for photos.