What Is Applications in iPhone Storage?

Applications in iPhone storage is the category Apple calls Apps. Apple's storage guide says it counts installed apps and their content. It also counts files saved in On My iPhone in the Files app, and Safari downloads.

The category appears in Settings > General > iPhone Storage, the screen used to check iPhone storage. Its figure comes down when you offload or delete an app, or remove content that an app keeps.

What the Apps Category Counts in iPhone Storage

What does applications mean on iPhone storage?

Applications on iPhone storage means the space used by your apps and everything they hold. Apple counts the app itself, the content stored inside it, files in On My iPhone and Safari downloads in one category.

Apple's storage guide lists no category called Applications. Its category for apps is Apps, and some kinds of content are counted in categories of their own:

Why a Computer Shows a Smaller Apps Figure

Finder on a Mac and the Apple Devices app on a Windows PC split the same space another way. Apple's guide says that on a computer, Apps lists the installed apps and Documents & Data lists their content.

The computer's Apps figure therefore covers the apps alone. The phone's figure adds everything the apps hold, which is why it is the larger of the two.

Why Apps Takes Up So Much Space on iPhone

Why is applications taking up so much storage on iPhone?

Applications takes up so much storage on iPhone because Apple counts each app's content along with the app. History kept in a third-party chat app, offline downloads and saved game data all add to the category, long after the app itself was installed.

Media kept inside a chat app counts here too, WhatsApp included. The iPhone Storage screen lists each app with the space it uses, and tapping an app opens a page for that app alone.

Apple notes that cached and temporary data may not count as usage. An app's figure on that page can therefore leave out some of what it has stored.

iOS also clears some space by itself. When the iPhone is low on storage, it removes items you can download again or do not need. Apple's examples are unused apps and temporary files.

How to Clear Applications on iPhone Storage

Clearing applications on iPhone storage works app by app, from the iPhone Storage screen:

1. Open Settings, then tap General.
2. Tap iPhone Storage.
3. Tap the app using the most space.
4. Choose Offload App or Delete App, or remove content inside the app.

Offloading an app frees the storage the app uses but keeps its documents and data, as Apple's storage guide describes it. Delete App removes the app and its related data, so anything you need from inside the app has to be saved elsewhere first.

Removing content inside an app depends on the app. Apple's guide says that, depending on the app, you might be able to delete some of its documents and data. Cached files are a separate case, covered in clearing the cache on iPhone.

The iPhone Storage screen can offload for you. When storage is full, tap Show to see every recommendation, then tap Enable on Offload Unused Apps. Apple's iOS update guide names the same setting as a way to make room for an update.

Files count too. The On My iPhone location in the Files app holds files counted under Apps. For Safari downloads, Apple's downloads guide points to the Downloads folder under iCloud Drive in the same app. Once the apps are dealt with, the same screen shows whether the rest of the space sits somewhere else.

Apps, System Data and Photos: When Apps Is Not the Largest Line

Apps is one line of several on the iPhone Storage screen. The largest line you can act on is the one that returns the most space. Files the system keeps for itself are counted outside Apps, and iPhone System Data explains that space. The steps to free up space on iPhone work from the largest category down.

Photos and videos in the Photos app are counted under Photos, not Apps. A large camera roll therefore never shows in the Apps figure, and clearing it means deleting photos on iPhone you no longer need.

Going through several thousand photos is the part of that job that takes time. Photo cleaner apps such as Swipe Quick show one photo at a time on the device: swipe left to delete, right to keep. Nothing is deleted without confirmation, and deleted photos go to Recently Deleted for 30 days.