Some users see spurious ‘storage almost full’ alerts in iOS and iPadOS 15

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storage almost full alert in iOS 15
Huh?
Photo: @3_Blind_Moose

Some iPhone and iPad users are being plagued by incorrect “storage almost full” alerts after updating to iOS and iPadOS 15. The message leaves a persistent badge on the Settings app icon that cannot be cleared.

In many cases, users seeing the alert actually have ample free storage remaining. A similar bug tells some iPhone and iPad owners that they have more available storage than their device actually shipped with.

‘Storage almost full’

A low-storage alert is perhaps one of the most frightening things you’ll see in the modern day. It means you’re running out of room for precious digital content, and that you have to start purging apps, photos and other media.

It’s not a sight we take lightly, so when we’re hit with a “storage almost full” alert out of the blue, it’s like a swift kick in the stomach. Sadly, that’s what a lot of iPhone and iPad users are facing after updating to iOS and iPadOS 15.

“Can’t get rid of a notification on my iPhone which is saying “iPhone storage almost full” after updating to iOS 15,” wrote Laura on Twitter. “I have 50GB free.”

This is just one of many tweets about the problem.

https://twitter.com/limcupk/status/1440098989060329474

Apple Support has been telling some users to restart their devices, but it seems this does little to fix the problem. The low-storage alert persists after a reboot, and there’s no way to clear it.

Users are also reporting the bug on Apple’s own Support Communities forum.

It’s not the only storage bug

This isn’t the only storage bug that appeared on some devices following the iOS and iPadOS 15 updates. Other users report that their iPhone or iPad shows more available storage than it actually shipped with.

These annoying bugs also showed up during the iOS and iPadOS 15 beta test, according to MacRumors. That would mean Apple simply failed to address them before making the updates available to the public Monday. It’s not yet clear if they’re fixed in the iOS 15.1 update Apple began testing earlier this week.

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