Affinity Designer V2 iPad taking up all available storage

[Greggry P]

Help! I’m using V2 AD on a 256gb iPad Pro, and it’s constantly telling me I have no storage space available. At present, I’m being told AD is taking up 255gb alone, and at times it has been almost double this (which obviously can’t be right). 

I’ve uploaded all my files to iCloud and deleted them from my iPad to free up whatever storage I can, but it’s only a temporary solution - within a day or too the iPad is full again.

I can’t now effectively use the app as any new work won’t be saved. Help!

[DM1]

2 hours ago, Greggry P said:

I’ve uploaded all my files to iCloud and deleted them from my iPad to free up whatever storage I can

Have you deleted them from the Homescreen too?

[Greggry P]

Yes, all deleted. Hasn’t made a difference. 

[DM1]

On 1/2/2023 at 6:36 AM, Greggry P said:

I can’t now effectively use the app as any new work won’t be saved. Help!

Does it actually fail to save? 

[Greggry P]

It does. I lost a good couple of hours’ work yesterday. 
 

I have deleted the app and reloaded again, which has temporarily resolved the issue, but in the last 24 hours the amount of space it’s taking up on the iPad has already doubled. It’s presently at 9.36gb (it was around 3 when I re-installed it) and I only have 1 document open. 
 

I see of these forums that there was a similar problem logged back in November, so it’s clearly a known issue. 

[dmtp14]

this concerns AD1: it takes all of the space on my ipad (even more than the storage capacity;-) see attachment...there are so many threads about this phenomen, could anyone of serif mods pls post a reasonable solution for this? this is getting ridiculous.--we bought a software and want it to work properly..txs ps: deleting and reinstalling and soft reset and and and and does not solve the problem on a long term...space fills up again in no time

as this only happens with Affinity Designer apps pls dont tell me its an ipad/apple problem...txs

[NotMyFault]

Moin, 

es ist überwiegend ein Apple Problem. Das zu leugnen hilft nix. Oder glaubst Du wirklich das Apps mehr Speicher belegen können als physisch vorhanden? 

Benutze einfach die von Apple bereit gestellten Tool wie Einstellungen/Allgemein/Speicher und die „Files“ App, um den genutzten Speicherplatz zu sehen, und unnötige Dateien zu löschen. Das hat auf meinen 3 iPads bisher immer geklappt. Files zeigt Jede Datei an und wieviel Speicher sie braucht.

 

 

[dmtp14]

21 hours ago, NotMyFault said:

Moin, 

es ist überwiegend ein Apple Problem. Das zu leugnen hilft nix. Oder glaubst Du wirklich das Apps mehr Speicher belegen können als physisch vorhanden? 

Benutze einfach die von Apple bereit gestellten Tool wie Einstellungen/Allgemein/Speicher und die „Files“ App, um den genutzten Speicherplatz zu sehen, und unnötige Dateien zu löschen. Das hat auf meinen 3 iPads bisher immer geklappt. Files zeigt Jede Datei an und wieviel Speicher sie braucht.

 

 

of course I have done all of this...pls dont underestimate your fellow ad users...txs...as none of the other apps I use including adobe fresco, procreate, sketchbook causes troubles like this I still believe this is a Affinity problem...and again I ask for a proper solution for this from serif staff..txs

[Affinity Rat]

I know iPad has problems with memory management, see here 

 

[dmtp14]

On 1/20/2023 at 9:15 PM, dmtp14 said:

of course I have done all of this...pls dont underestimate your fellow ad users...txs...as none of the other apps I use including adobe fresco, procreate, sketchbook causes troubles like this I still believe this is a Affinity problem...and again I ask for a proper solution for this from serif staff..txs

as its almost a month since my request I push it for Serif stuff to answer, explain and offer a solution...txs

[Callum]

This is a well documented issue here on the forums that is unfortunately  a bug with iOS as far as we can tell. We have reported this to Apple ourselves but as of yet it seems not much has been done to fix this. You can read more about this along with some work arounds that may free up the space for you in the below thread.

 

[dmtp14]

4 hours ago, Callum said:

This is a well documented issue here on the forums that is unfortunately  a bug with iOS as far as we can tell. We have reported this to Apple ourselves but as of yet it seems not much has been done to fix this. You can read more about this along with some work arounds that may free up the space for you in the below thread.

 

@callum txs for an answer...belated but an answer....I have read all the postings before and I have done everything (as I mentioned above) , deleted the app, reinstalled, resets etc....the storage is filled again in no time...I lost ALL my colour palettes each time I deleted AD and reinstalled it...because there is no way to save those end export...I dont want to seem rude but I bought the software from Serif and it is to simple an explanation to say its an apple problem...if that is going on for years there should be an approvement...but no: there are new versions sold with the same problem...this is almost a case for European customer services...I am an artist and surface designer and very often have to make changes to existing files and projects...it is absolutely time consuming and annoying to look through all my files because if I have some of  them open in Affinity my storage of 512GB is not enough for one! Affinity app...I own AP also...and desktop version but due to the apple pencil I do everything on my ipad...

[NotMyFault]

Since i keep all files outside the regular app sandbox, in dedicated folders either on iPad or in iCloud, i never experienced this issue again.

Where do you store your files ?

It can help to login to icloud on a browser and check for files in deleted folders, and delete those.

Be careful with imported assests, fonts, and downloaded assets from Serif store. Deactivate automatic download.

 

[Affinity Rat]

When I approached Apple support, they claim its a bug, but my own feeling is its an Apple feature to push users to use their cloud and have a constant revenue stream. Apple have no interest in fixing problems like this.

See below in ipad settings to get apps backed up to Apples cloud.

 

[Affinity Rat]

The default install for Affinity products is to have cloud save turned on, I dont use it, but recently reinstalled AP 2, and found it turned on.

[DM1]

3 hours ago, Affinity Rat said:

The default install for Affinity products is to have cloud save turned on, I dont use it, but recently reinstalled AP 2, and found it turned on.

My understanding is that currently V2 doesn’t default to either local or cloud. Indeed the option to do so appears to have been removed from settings. Saving now allows a choice of any available storage location. I would assume if you navigate to and store a file in iCloud, then the Apps using iCloud setting would be turned on.🙂

[Affinity Rat]

1 hour ago, DM1 said:

My understanding is that currently V2 doesn’t default to either local or cloud.

My recent cold reinstall, had Cloud save turned on. My other apps dont use it.

I tried the Apple cloud with 256 gb of storage, and after about 1 month it was half full with a device backup, and all photos and videos synchronized. I found trying to keep files from being synchronized lacked total transparency. I lost most of my notes, and after attempting to get them back took several days and required tech support.

My problems were related to Apple ids plural.

[Paul Mudditt]

47 minutes ago, Affinity Rat said:

My recent cold reinstall, had Cloud save turned on. My other apps dont use it.

I tried the Apple cloud with 256 gb of storage, and after about 1 month it was half full with a device backup, and all photos and videos synchronized. I found trying to keep files from being synchronized lacked total transparency. I lost most of my notes, and after attempting to get them back took several days and required tech support.

My problems were related to Apple ids plural.

Yup don't fight them, turn everything on,  use all functions they provide, especially optimise storage and iCloud photos. Backups should be small since Apple only backups up data and not apps plus ignores photos since photos are stored safely anyway, Affinity apps are to blame for the huge backups. Save everything out of the apps. Delete and re-install, leaving all your work in iCloud drive and you will recover your iCloud storage.

[NotMyFault]

It is important to use the sandbox location as little as possible. All newly created files will reside there by default. It is best practice to store them immediately after creation in a different location outside the sandbox (“save as”), and close files you are no longer working on.

This can be “on my iPad”, meaning local and no iCloud is involved.

If your Photo App is greeting you with dozens or hundreds files visible in the App home screen, you will run into this issue sooner or later.

[Paul Mudditt]

5 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

 

This can be “on my iPad”, meaning local and no iCloud is involved.

 

Only if you DO NOT USE the Affinity folders in On My iPad, create your own since iPadOS will delete the Affinity folders in On My iPad automatically if you delete the app.

Remember iCloud Backup space will be used by On My IPad folders so you may as well use the iCloud folders.

[Affinity Rat]

Quote

…Apple only backups up data and not apps plus ignores photos since photos are stored safely anyway, Affinity apps are to blame for the huge backups.

I dont get it, if Apple doesnt backup apps, why are Affinity apps responsible for huge backups. Are Afiinity apps unique in this regard?

Storage on my device apps use 50% of total storage. My device backup to the cloud was between 80-100gb, add in my user files, and the 256gb cloud easily > 60%-70% full.

I presume you mean only data contained within the app, eg. Affinity sandbox, but not working application.

 

 

 

 

 

[Paul Mudditt]

3 hours ago, Affinity Rat said:

I dont get it, if Apple doesnt backup apps, why are Affinity apps responsible for huge backups. Are Afiinity apps unique in this regard?

Storage on my device apps use 50% of total storage. My device backup to the cloud was between 80-100gb, add in my user files, and the 256gb cloud easily > 60%-70% full.

I presume you mean only data contained within the app, eg. Affinity sandbox, but not working application.

 

 

 

 

 

Apple have copies of all apps in the app store so never need to store the code in your backup no matter how many apps you have. However all apps have private data areas like the Affinity sandbox’s, you can see here, trouble is as you mentioned there are problems such as these files which have been deleted from the sandbox but still take up space, generally best solved by deleting and restoring the apps now and again. A typical iPhone or iPad backup should be considerably less than 20GB so long as iCloud is used for everything like messages, photo, iCloud files etc. Anything that you don’t enable in iCloud will just make you have bigger backup files !

[Affinity Rat]

Thank you Paul, this is what I thot you meant.

[dmtp14]

sry for my delayed reply: I dont use icloud (and of course I do backups via itunes or imazing) and dont want to be forced to by one single app on my ipad taking up all space..

.I save my docs outside the Affinity Folder...

and deleting and reinstalling again and again is not an option any more as I lost amounts of important colour palettes...as I wrote before, they cant be saved before deleting the app..another unnerving and very unprofessional feature of AD ipad...

as Affinity and Apple dont feel responsible for this I give up, I dont have the time to fight against windmills like Don Quijote... I will stop recommending Affinity products to professional fellow artists and stop buying the products unless this problem (and many other problems like rulers, a light UI, etc) is solved...maybe developers should actually work with the apps over a long time and experience what many of us here experience with clients waiting, galleries pressing...maybe then user wishes would be taken more seriously

and as I wrote before: I bought the software from Affinity and not from Apple in good trust it will work properly...as everybody else in this forum...

 

[Affinity Rat]

Quote

Dmtp14 wrote: “single app on my ipad taking up all space”

As Paul pointed out, this behavior is not unique to Affinity products.

My Safari browser is using 35gb of ipad space, iMoviec8 gb and no visible items stored.

My feeling is Apple have designed the iPad storage scheme to encapsulate apps for possibly security or stability which is fine, but fail to manage that storage.

Apples answer is the iCloud, it rewards them financially, so Apple have no real desire to fix or change the status quo.

Understandable why designers dislike this arrangement, but the options are to:

• bend to Apples will and use the iCloud or
• use the ipad and be choked by storage mismanagement,
• use sharing to connect iPad to an external hard drive
• or leave the Apple ecosystem

Using sharing to connect to an external hard drive is also fraught with problems and bugs. Turning off the connected drive or computer can cause iPad to hang, it wants a constant connection.

Sad situation.