To keep enough open storage on my iPhone, I primarily target the three main suspects: photos, videos, and music. Although I do go for a manual cleanup driver once in a while, I prefer to enable automatic removal of unwanted files that tend to build up over time. This is where the well thought-out “Optimize Storage” feature becomes my go-to tool to keep clutter at bay. For those who don’t know, it automatically removes music files you haven’t played for a while when it detects that your iPhone is running low on free storage. It also allows you to limit the space Apple Music takes up on your iPhone or iPad. So, if you want to limit Apple Music storage to ensure the device never runs out of storage, let’s move on to the step-by-step guide.
Limit the Space Apple Music Takes on iOS and iPadOS
To begin with, I’d like to shed some more light on the optimized storage feature.
So, What is Capture?
In an age where there are tons of free and paid music streaming apps, I don’t think there are too many people who like to store a huge music library locally, right? Also, most music apps come with millions of songs that can be discovered and transferred on demand. Therefore, it makes sense to use a music streaming service. Personally, I like to keep only a handful of songs that I can stream offline during a long trip. And me I prefer to get rid of the songs that I played only once in the blue moon so that there are no unnecessary files in the background on the device. Therefore, I feel happy when the “Optimized Storage” feature automatically removes these unwanted traces.
While Optimized Storage works reliably by simply deleting unnecessary music, it isn’t perfect. And I’ve encountered some users who complained that it even removed frequently played tracks from their devices. However, these complaints were very few. However, if you’re very protective of the music you compile on your iPhone and don’t want anyone to even browse your collection – let alone delete some tracks – this guide is not for you. But if you’re like me who would rather kill junk files than see device storage messy, let’s get to the guide!
Steps to Restrict Apple Music Storage on iPhone
- Hungry Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Now scroll down and tap on it. Music.
3. Next, tap on it. Optimize Storage option under Downloads episode.
4. Next, turn on the switch. Optimize Storage.
Next up, you have multiple storage options to choose from (eg. 4GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB) – depending on the overall storage capacity of your iPhone. Choose your preferred option and you are ready to go!
Depending on the storage option you choose, your device will keep its music storage at this level. But if you want to disable this restriction, go back to the same setting and finally turn off the Optimized Storage toggle.
Prevent Music from Disrupting Your iPhone and iPad
This is the right way to prevent music from taking up too much space on your device. As someone who always wants to keep their device storage organized, I find this feature very useful. Also do you find it helpful? Drop your views in the comments below. I also recommend following some of our latest guides, such as accessing the top 25 music and hiding Apple Music in the Music app on Mac if you missed it.
