Welcome to Tech Support, a segment where I, Dan Howley, serve as your intrepid guide through the sometimes confusing, often frustrating, world of personal technology.
Here, I answer all of your most pressing questions about the various gizmos, gadgets, and services you use in your everyday life.
Have a question of your own? Reach me on Twitter at @danielhowley or email me at dhowley@yahoofinance.com.
Now, on to your questions. This week's Tech Support tip:
How to get more iCloud storage.
Ah, Apple’s (AAPL) iCloud. Never has a service been so incredibly helpful and annoying at the same time. Sure, saving your photos and important documents in the cloud ensures their safety if your iPhone bites the dust, but those notifications that you’re running out of storage are insufferable.
I get it, I’m low on space. Just let me Google when Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were invented in peace!
It was 1928, by the way.
Thankfully, there are a few ways to free up your iCloud storage, and even get more, so you never have to deal with those notifications again.
Free up space by deleting photos
When you create an iCloud account, Apple automatically gives you 5GB of free storage. That’s helpful when you’re just getting things started, but not nearly enough for most people who use their phones for everything from movies and games to taking thousands of photos.
If you’re receiving notifications that you’re running low on storage, you’re likely filing your iCloud account up with too many pictures. There’s a way to get around that, though.
On your iPhone, open the Settings app and tap Apple ID, iCloud, Media & Purchases at the top of the screen.
Tap the iCloud tab and you’ll be able to see which apps are eating into your storage the most.
If your pictures are the culprit, tap Photos and flip the slider next to iCloud Photos to the off position. This will keep your phone from automatically backing up all of your pictures to the cloud.
Fair warning, though. It’s incredibly risky to rely solely on your iPhone or any other single device to store all of your pictures. Leave it on a bus, or otherwise break your phone, and those photos are gone forever.
