Usage of space on an iPad

[Bonniecarmen]

I have a question...have a 16 gig mini that I use for specific things. When I check the space left, it gives me a graph, showing apps, photos, mail, media, books and other. There is a lot of space taken up with “other”. Does anyone know what that means? Hi for your help.

 

[chas_m]

I have a question...have a 16 gig mini that I use for specific things. When I check the space left, it gives me a graph, showing apps, photos, mail, media, books and other. There is a lot of space taken up with “other”. Does anyone know what that means? Hi for your help.

I hate to be glib, but literally Apple's definition of "other" means any files that the system can't identify as being one of those defined file types. Some of "other" is most definitely the system files iOS uses, but that could also cover thinks like Office documents, PDFs, mail attachments, caches, unemptied trash (remember Photos, Mail, iMovie and some other apps have their own "recently deleted" folders where they hold onto things for a while before really deleting them), preferences, and other things actually locally stored on the iPad (using iCloud et al can help with a lot of this, incidentally).

There are likely to be some third-party apps that can provide you with a more detailed look, but I'd be cautious about randomly deleting things without fully understanding why they're there and what they do.

 

[Bonniecarmen]

Thx for your help Charles.