Memory Usage iPadOS

Report · Jun 18, 2023

I'm confused and would appreciate help on the following:

my Lightroom CC directory on Windows is 100GByte. Cloud usage is some 89.3GB
I synch this to my 512GByte iPad Pro 12.9 with iPad OS 16.5 and configure to download full copies. I also switch all albums to store locally.
Consequently, LR reports under App Settings / Local Storage for Locally stored copies 101.7GB.
Additionally, Cache files make up for 7.2GByte and Free is reported as 415.7GByte - so the total overshoots the available storage on the iPad by 12GByte - before accounting for other stuff on the iPad.
in iPad Settings / General / iPad storage I find 96.3 GB of 512 GB used, which would explain the 415.7GB. But Lightroom is reported to consume 36.74GB only.

This obviously leads to the question where are my locally stored copies - there is an un-explained difference between 101.7GB reported used by LR and 36.7GB reported used by iPad OS.

I haven't found obvious missing pictures or blurry smart previews. So ... what's going on?

Help appreciated!

Stefan

PS: I also sync to the phone, but only few albums are stored locally; storage reporting makes more sense there and appears consistent between LR and iOS.

Report · Jun 21, 2023

Hello @Stefan_E12

If iOS settings is reporting that the LR mobile app is using only 36.74 GB of the 101.7 GB the app itself expects to use, I wonder if perhaps the app has not finished downloading all the original images you expect to see. Downloading can take a while -- if you plug your device into power while the LR app is open, then the app can keep the device awake to complete long running tasks like the download for Store Locally.

Also, please confirm in app Settings > Cloud storage & sync, that you have "Only download smart previews" disabled. Your second bullet details imply this, but I just want to confirm.

One thing you could do to verify the number of originals in stored in the Lightroom app cache: use iTunes/Finder file sharing to access the photos inside the app cache. This help page shows how: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/kb/recover-lightroom-mobile-photos-itunes-file-sharing.htm...

...The help page is a little dates, as newer Mac OSes have removed the iTunes app, and moved the same functionality into the Mac Finder app. Still, if you are able to access the app cache, copy the Originals folder to your computer, and see if all the expected files are present.

I hope something here helps!

Report · Jun 21, 2023

Hi Charlie,

thx. for your hints. I obviously waited long enough for the sync to complete. And I disabled "smart previews only". I'm working on Windows and have never succeeded to install iTunes there 😞

... so it remains a mystery.

Stefan

Report · Jun 21, 2023

If there storage used still shows lower than expected in iPad Settings / General / iPad storage, and you remain curious, I imagine iTunes for Windows will allow you to access the app cache.

There are also 3rd party apps available that also allow access to the app cache. However, I cannot officially endorse any partucular app. Web search will help you there.

Report · Jun 24, 2023

I now installed this so-called "program" iTunes. Under File Sharing I can find Lightroom and one folder with name d22a... which is 100GByte in size. But I can't look inside. So there is a discrepancy between this reporting and what the iPad says under Settings. Also the free space is repored differently between iTunes and the iPad.

Report · Jun 25, 2023

Hi @Stefan_E12

If iTunes Files Sharing reports LR is using 100 GB, that could be both original and caches larghe thumbs.

I know you said you enabled "Store Locally" on all albums. To make sure this is as accurate as possible, I would make a new album, set it to Store Locally and add all photos and videos from Lightroom's automatically created All Photos album. Set that new "everything" album to Store Locally (and allow the mobile app time to download: ie. leave Lightroom running and plugged into power so that the app can stay awake long enough to download every original file from the cloud). Then I recommend purging thumbs etc by going to app Settings > Local Storage, and tap 'Clear Cache' to purge all but original files

After that, copying your personal user cache "d22a..." from iTunes' cache to your computer is a scientific confirmation of what exists in Lightroom's cloud storage, as far as original files that are uploaded from any LR app.

Will Windows iTunes allow you to select and copy that personal user cache "d22a..." from your device to your computer? If so, you could use this method to confirm the number of true "originals" photos downloaded by the LR Mobile app.

Lightroom should report use cloud storage based on the original file data you uploaded. If you sign into your same account at lightroom.adobe.com (this the LR Web app for all browsers), in account info you should be able to confirm the amount of cloud storage used. If the amount is similar to LR Mobile but not the Lightroom desktop app, then we should purse this as a Lightroom desktop issue.

Let us know what you find!

Report · Jun 26, 2023

Hi @Charlie.D ,

appreciate your help - great! Thx. a lot. Let me summarize where I'm now:

cloud storage reported: 93.1GByte (both in LR Mobile, as well as in Web app); that's according to my expectation
LR Mobile reports usage of 111.2 GByte, 46kByte for cache (I just cleared it)
iTunes reports the "d22a..." folder consumes 104 GByte (but doesn't let me look inside, or copy to the PC)
iPad Settings / General / iPad Storage tells me LR consumes 45.9GByte
meanwhile, I got my hands on iExplorer which allows me look inside "d22a...". There I find some other stuff and then "d22a.../Originals" which contains my JPG, CR2 and CR3 files. This looks ok. but I haven't pulled a copy to the PC. I might do that later - time permitting - and then check for completness.

So, this all more or less makes sense except for what is reported in Settings / General / iPad Storage. But as this problem is seemingly only related to LR, I'm still not sure I let Adobe off the hook 🙂

Stefan

Report · Jun 26, 2023

I asked a developer about this, and his note was that iOS Settings can be inaccurate.

With that in mind, here are a couple more things you could try to get iOS to update storage used to reflect more accurately (sorry, these are also time-consuming):

try offloading the Lightroom app. Then restore the app later. I wonder if this might cause iOS to reset its understanding of storage consumed. Apple's own pages that may help:
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201656
- I haven't found much on Apple's site about "Offload Unused App" but web searches will show you a lot of good info.
do a full iTunes/iCload backup and then restore of your device.