How to get more space on your phone

Having enough space on your phone before you start filming is one of the most important aspects of smartphone filmmaking.

So if you have a phone chock-full of apps, musics and movies, you may be in need of a clear out before your next video shoot. Here are my top tips for getting more storage space for your phone.

BACK UP TO THE CLOUD

It’s an obvious one that everyone knows about but is often under utilised - even I resisted at first. Cloud-based storage is a great way to save space but still have access to what you need, and there’s a variety of options.

iCloud: a free account for iPhone users which will allow you to store up to 5gb.

Dropbox: depending on your account you can have between 2-16gb for free. You can get more space by inviting friends to join up - provided they actually sign up, or upgrade your account to receive 1TB. The mobile app is available on both iPhone and Android.

Google Drive: With 15gb storage this is the definitely the one to use if you want a free option. Otherwise you have the option of purchasing a 100gb or 1TB plan. The mobile app is available on both iPhone and Android.

TRICK YOUR PHONE

If you’re an iPhone user I found this trick, and it actually works! This won't void your warranty or involve any kind of risk. Try it, and see what happens. You can also watch video instructions here.

Step 1: Go to your Settings app and then choose General > Storage & iCloud usage to see how much storage is available. Note that as the available storage number.

Step 2: Open the iTunes Store app and search for a movie that is big in size. "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" is 6.83GB. (You just need to find a movie that requires more space to download than you have available on your phone.) Tap the Rent button twice, keeping in mind you won't actually end up renting it (and therefore won't be charged anything).

Step 3: Once you see the not enough space available to download message, tap Settings. Then navigate back to General > Storage & iCloud and you should see an increase in your available storage space.

Step 4: Repeat. Go back to the iTunes Store app and try renting the movie again. Each time, you should get another chunk of freed-up storage. Keep going until you either have too much free space (meaning you'd actually download the movie) or the available space stops rising.

ACITIVELY MANAGE STORAGE

As soon as you’re done with a project, get it off your phone. Put them onto your computer or on a external back-up drive.

iPhone user: Use iPhoto if you want to collate them into albums on your computer. Otherwise use Image Capture to simply download off your phone into a location of your choosing.

Android user: Use Android File Transfer to save them in a location of your choice.

Remember to delete them out of the ‘recently deleted’ folder if you are an iPhone user. This trips a lot of people up.

LIVE STREAM MUSIC

There’s really no need to keep music on your phone anymore with so many options for live streaming. Some examples include.

TuneIn Radio: With this app you can find live-streaming radio stations from all over the world.

Pandora: is a free, personalised radio that plays music based on genre, artist, or allows you to create your own playlists.

DELETE UNUSED APPS

With so many free apps out there your phone maybe full of apps you downloaded and tried once. My rule of thumb is if I haven’t used an app within a month, it’s got to go. Set yourself your own timeline and delete those unused apps.