Now that iOS has OTA (over the air) updates we’ve become spoiled. Each time a new system update comes out we can just tap the update button without having to plug in our iDevices into our computers. However, when a major iOS update comes out like iOS 8, it’s a lot larger than a dot release and therefore it has to download and take up space on your device during the installation process. In many cases people just don’t have that much free space available. iOS 8 weighs in at over 1GB of space and requires just over 5GB of free space to do the install. If you like to keep lots of movies, music, pictures, and apps on your iDevice then chances are you probably are always low on space. When iOS 8 came out last week I had several friends complain/grumble that they were busy deleting things to make room. You can avoid this song and dance if you remember that you can still upgrade to a new iOS version via iTunes on your Mac or PC. Yeah, remember those days when you used to have to plug in your iDevice via a USB cable to get ANY updates? Well there was one benefit to this archaic method. When you upgrade via your computer, the software that you are about to install is downloaded to your computer’s hard drive first instead of your iDevice. I’m betting that you have much more available space on your computer’s hard drive than you do on your iDevice. So rather than delete a bunch of your favorite photos to make room, just plug in your iDevice and fire up the latest version of iTunes. It will check to see if there’s an update available and allow you to install it right there.
8 Tips and Tricks for iOS 8
