Storage Crisis? What to do (and what not to do)

Storage Crisis? What to do (and what not to do)

Battling with your phone over storage? Again? No doubt everyone reading this article has enveloped their phone in useless junk to the point of the 'storage full' message. Some just deleted a bunch of screen shots and badly timed pictures to solve the problem. After all, you need to keep all of your photos as precious memories and apps to make life easier and games and music and films and shows to keep you occupied throughout the day. What can one do to not drown in 'storage full' messages? Read on to find out how!

There are a few options to choose from for each type of content you are trying to store, from some resolving to various forms of cloud storage, and others being the use of older devices for pictures and videos and newer, slimmer and faster USB's for documents and important files. You can go about any of these options, with each solving the problem. However, in order to permanently resolve this issue, you may need to put in a little effort. Maybe, 5-10 minutes every month (or three) depending on how you use your phone. That's it? Yes, that's really it. The more effort you put into it, the better your chances will be that you will never see that god-awful message ever again, on any device.

So. Shall we begin?

1. Photos and Videos

Lets start off with the most important bits of our lives: our photos and videos. You are going to want to store these precious visual memories somewhere safe, but you also want to make sure you can store ALL of them without paying too much, or at all. There are ways to stretch your online storage to the max before you do indeed have to give in and buy more storage. It all depends on the solution of your choice.

Option A - Cloud Storage Service

Many people today just pick any random service and start blindly paying towards something that isn't useful. Why pay for something that isn't going to help anyone? There are many cloud services out there, each with different purposes, features, and ways to access. In order to choose the right one for you, you need to analyze your usage and your ecosystem of devices. 

Google Photos

If you are a major Google fanatic, want a cheap solution, or want an easy way to access your photos, Google Photos is your best bet. With just a Google Account, you can upload your entire photo and video library for free. The only catch is all of your uploads will take up space online unless high quality backups is turned on. All you have to do is download the app on your phone, set it up, and it will automatically back up everything for free. It can even scan what has already been uploaded so you don't end up with duplicates. You can also have it setup to start uploading when plugged into a computer or automatically back up as the image or video is created. 

If you own an original Pixel, Pixel 2, or Pixel 3, none of your uploads will affect your online storage space. If you don't have any of the above, you are still in luck. You just need to select 'High quality uploads' during set up so they don't start eating away at your storage.

Microsoft OneDrive

Microsofts' online cloud storage solution, OneDrive, doesn't provide a lot of space, but can be helpful for those who primarily use Microsoft. You can easily backup your pictures from a Windows 10 device or your phone and you can then access them anywhere that can access OneDrive: including your Xbox. 

Amazon Photos

Do you have Amazon Prime? Many people do these days. It provides quite a bit for a low price of $12.99 per month. Well, what they may not have told you is that you can upload your gallery to your Amazon Photos app in original quality for free. All you have to do is download and install the app, sign in to your Amazon account and start uploading. You can access your gallery online in a web interface and on mobile through respective platform apps. 

iCloud

On Apple devices, the easiest way to backup your gallery online is through the native iCloud backup tool. iCloud  provides you with a meager 5 GB of online storage to start out with, and costs $1.99 to upgrade to 50 GB of online data. It can automatically backup all of your photos and videos whenever you are connected to the internet, but does not automatically delete from the device. It can be an easy and simple way to keep your storage usage low on Apple devices.

Canon Irista

The latest Canon camera's come preloaded with the Canon Irista software to upload content immediately to the cloud platform, skipping the computer altogether. While many photos taken on DSLR camera's take up a lot of space, the 15 GB of storage Irista provides should last you a year or two before it's full. Unfortunately, it does not offer a 'high quality' storage option like Google Photos, but it does provide a lot of space for a lot of photos...

Mega.nz

If you like your privacy, and need quite a bit of space, Mega.nz may be the best fit for you. It provides end-to-end encryption and 35 GB of space for free and automatically backs up your files on computers and mobile devices. Keep in mind, however, that this service can be used for all file types, not just pictures and videos. 

Option B - Storage Device

Not too keen on online cloud solutions? Don't worry, the cloud isn't for everyone. You do have some other options, but they don't look too cheap if you don't already have them. If you have any old laptops lying around, accumulating dust in the process, you could finally put them to use by storing your gallery of memories on them. You can install a Linux distribution or Chromium OS on the device to allow the device to run and access as much space as possible for the storage of your media. 

Another practical solution is to look into external hard drives, SSD's, memory cards and USB's to store your data. Many devices today support 'OTG,' which allows you to plug in a USB flash drive or an external drive via USB to your Android device. SanDisk have also created a version for iOS devices which makes use of the lightning port. If your device supports Micro SD cards, that could be an option too. You can buy many SD Cards nowadays with SD adapters to plug them in to your laptop. Which brings us to your last option: your laptop or desktop.

If you do have to resolve to storing them on your day-to-day devices, try to cut down the amount you store and try to keep them organized, otherwise it just becomes a huge mess. Also, do not store them directly on the Desktop, or randomly on the C Drive in Windows. Store them in their own folder or in the dedicated Pictures and Videos folders. 

2. Online Productivity Apps

While phones are great for on-the-go chances to documents, they will start cluttering up your phone's storage space. To rectify, you can use one of two options: G Suite, or Office Online. If you have a business or school account with Microsoft, your school or employer will provide you with Microsoft Office Online and 1 TB of OneDrive storage. Otherwise, your only other option is G Suite. The good thing about G Suite, however, is that every document you create with it is stored in your Google Drive without taking up any storage. The only downside is the slight learning curve and that it's missing a few features compared to Office. 

Another way you can use either service is for storing notes. One Note can be used both as a website and an app, available for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS, and syncs all of your notes across each device. They do take up OneDrive storage, but it never takes up more than 20 KB, which barely dents even the 5 GB plan. G Suites alternative to this is Google Keep Notes. You can access this as a website and an app, available for Android and iOS and also syncs across all devices. The only difference is that notes are stored online without taking up any storage space. 

Lastly, use an online based calendar app to keep track of your events. G Suite has Google Calendar, which is widely popular among families and people who stick to the Google ecosystem. Microsoft offer a built-in calendar with Outlook which is more integrated in to the email service than Google Calendar is with Gmail. However, both services offer pretty much the same features.

Google Keep Notes - Web  /  Android  /  Apple

One Note - Web  / Android /  Apple  /  PC/Mac

3. Go Lite

Lite apps and PWA's are becoming increasingly popular since the release of Android Go in 2017, which provides a lightweight Android OS to devices with less power and lower specs. Lite apps provide the same experience as the original app, but in a smaller package and is more optimized for low-end devices. A PWA, or Progressive Web Application, uses Android's system web view to view the mobile site version of an app, as an app that can access the devices hardware. For example, there is a Google Photos PWA which allows you to not only view your pictures, but upload more too. Instagram also have a PWA and actually allows you to send and receive DM's. There are a plethora of Lite apps and PWA's available for both Android and iOS, and more are on there way in 2020.

Lite apps are available through the Google Play Store and the Apple AppStore, however, PWA's have to be added by the user in their chosen web browser. For example, in Safari, I would have to navigate to the site and press share > add icon to home screen. In Chrome, there's a button to add a shortcut to the home screen in the three dot menu.

4. Delete, Disable, Reinstall, Offload

Delete any apps that you don't use enough or at all, disable any system apps on Android that you no longer need and will not hinder the device, reinstall certain apps which accumulate a lot of space overtime, clear cache from apps and offload any apps you don't use at least once per week. To make the process go a little faster, use a bulk app uninstaller or use the 'Device Care' service on Samsung devices. 

Most people forget that they also have to watch their space usage in the cloud. In your email, make sure you delete any spam emails, non-important emails, and promotional offers you will never use. I would also advise to unsubscribe from any and all mailing lists and subscription services you do not use. They too will clutter your email. With a cloud service, make sure you delete old files that are no longer relevant. In Google Drive, convert as many documents to a G Suite format to free up space, and do not keep the duplicate files!

5. Streaming Services and Online Libraries

Many people have switched from the traditional iTunes-like buy and download system to Spotify's streaming subscription plan, with more and more content providers switching to the same business model. Now, you can stream music, movies, TV shows, audiobooks, ebooks, and even AAA title games right to your mobile device. Why not give one a go?

Currently, TIDAL are offering $5 for 5 months for all plans, including HiFi Family plans. Spotify also do 3 months for $0.99 throughout the summer and most music streaming plans offer family and military discounts. 

Another way to free up device storage is to move your content online. This can be done through a number of services. You can move all of your movies to a Plex server, upload up to 600,000 songs to Google Play Music, or you can start investing in digital copies of movies and TV shows in the Google Play Store, Amazon, or iTunes. 

6. If all else fails...

I would think about buying a device with more storage on board. 64 GB seems to get me by just fine, however I use my device differently to the other 5 billion people who use a phone. Some of my friends and coworkers can't seem to deal with 256 GB or even 512 GB, which I find astonishing. If you need a lot of space on your mobile device, then I would definitely recommend a Galaxy Note 10+ or Galaxy S10/+. You can buy a 1 TB version of any three of the devices and buy another 1 TB Micro SD card to give you 2 TB of space on one mobile device. That's pretty incredible!

You could also think about using a tablet device for media consumption, such as movies and games, and use your phone solely for apps and pictures. 

Hopefully you can put some of these tips and tricks to use to save you a bit on money (and storage).