Suggestion: Setting To Clear Junk Data on iPad

[TonyO]

Hiya! Wondering if it would be possible to add a button into the settings (possibly under the 'reset' section) that could clear out cached files or any other random junk data that affinity seems to collect into it's inaccessible data area. 

I'm running an older ipad with 64gb of storage, and currently Designer is taking up almost 23GB of "documents and data" while only having 4 docs open (which on dropbox are under 100mb total size between all of them, all of them being mostly vector with very little raster data). 

This problem is the bane of iPad owners, every app seems to hoard storage for mysterious reasons, haha! 
Thanks!!!

 

[walt.farrell]

Note that all of your Brushes, Styles, Assets, etc. are also part of the "used" storage. As is the History for those open files.

[TonyO]

All of those settings combined cannot possibly amount to that much junk data though. 

I don't install brushes, I don't use styles, and I don't have any imported asset files. I design for iStock/Adobe Stock etc. The files are required to be vector only, no effects, basically the equivalent of EPS-8.0 from 2003. So my files are 99% vector with the only raster based elements I use being temporary background files to trace vectors from. My history states are set to 128, and i never turned them up. My workflow is what you would call "extremely light". 

So as a test... I saved all 4 of my currently open docs to the icloud files app with the "save history turned on".  Then uninstalled and reinstalled Affinity Designer. Re-opened all 4 docs and checked that all 128 states of history were intact on all 4 files, which they were.

So basically, a couple settings aside, I am now back to the EXACT state of my previous workflow, all histories intact, and all data I need currently open and in the live docs. My 25 or so installed fonts were even still there. 

This is my new "documents and data" size:

 

So i basically had 22.9GB of data that was completely unnecessary hoarded in the background. Some of that may have been previously held histories for  projects I've opened and closed in the past, but why would that be building up in the background if it's inaccessible and un-restorable? 

Photoshop has a nice function for this, which basically empties it's entire cache folder of anything that's not currently in use, if Designer is not clearing out data as it should, then a function would be great for dorks like me who can't justify shelling our for new equipment, haha. 

[Bit Disappointed]

It should say next to the number how much you paid for the 22GB when you bought the iPad. 😱 

 

 

[Bit Disappointed]

@TonyO You did notice that the app size doubled, right? It happened here too. I think it drops when you update to 2.4.0 though:

When you perform a total reinstallation of an app on your M2 iPad, it could result in downloading and installing the entire universal app package. This package includes all components and resources necessary for the app to function on different Apple devices, such as iPhones, other iPad models, and potentially Macs. This universal package is larger because it contains multiple sets of resources tailored for different device types.

In contrast, during updates, Apple's systems can be more selective, only downloading the parts of the app relevant to the specific device type – in your case, an M2 iPad. This selective download is enabled by Apple's "App Thinning" technology, which includes:

Slicing: Where the app downloads only the parts necessary for a specific device type.
Bitcode: Allows Apple to optimize the app's binary code for each device before it is distributed.
On-Demand Resources: Resources like images and sounds can be downloaded as needed, rather than being part of the initial app download.

So, when you update the app, your iPad likely downloads only the components necessary for its specific configuration, resulting in a smaller overall size compared to a full installation of the universal package.

The 22GB of data is, however, concerning and represents a careless accumulation of gigantic amounts of data, and it's incredibly sad that one cannot easily clean this up directly from the app. iPad storage is incredibly expensive, and it's not exactly as if one can expand it.

[TonyO]

14 hours ago, Bit Arts said:

When you perform a total reinstallation of an app on your M2 iPad, it could result in downloading and installing the entire universal app package.

I'm running a 2018 A12 Bionic iPad pro (currently holding out for the M3 since it's getting close to the 18 month refresh).

I'm not worried about an extra gig or so on the app package, I'm way more concerned with huge amounts of old cache data collecting somewhere where it cant be deleted, mostly because my older iPad only has 64gb of storage, 22gb of junk files pretty much fills all of my remaining space. 

I'm not a programmer, but my hypothesis is (because i run an older ipad that is struggling to keep up with more modern software) that the app is hard closing/force crashing in the background to conserve memory when apps are switched, since AFD uses alot of memory. I think this is happening because if i don't exit my current doc to auto save it before app switching, if AFD closes in the BG and i have an open doc, the changes since last auto save will be lost. I'm guessing that cache files aren't being auto cleared as they would if the app closed down properly. This is probably more of an Apple/User-should-upgrade-old-crappy-hardware problem, but it's still concerning since alot of people are still rocking slightly older hardware. Obviously i have no clue what I'm talking about because I'm not a programmer, but the hypothesis sounds good to me anyway. 

 

 

[fde101]

1 hour ago, TonyO said:

the hypothesis sounds good to me anyway. 

It is one possible explanation for some of what you were seeing, but if that is the case and the app is not providing a mechanism for cleaning it up, that is a design flaw if it is not a bug.