Wyze Cam App using way too much iPhone internal storage memory

Thanks very much, Wellcraft19 - I just didn’t know if I somehow needed the Documents & Data data, but I apparently did not. I deleted the Wyze app and then watched my available internal iPhone storage ramp up in several seconds. I then reinstalled the Wyze app, logged in, and the cameras show up as before, and the events and playback on SD cards are still there. Anyone know the purpose of the cache build-up in Documents & Data in the first place? Seems there would be a simpler way to clear it, or perhaps there should be a means to prevent it from building up in base case.

1 Like

Thanks, kyphos - helpful to have a second, concurring opinion. Removing and reinstalling the Wyze app seems to have been the right move. Good tip to review the camera settings after reinstalling the Wyze app.

Although I’m on Android I’ve seen this problem before. Most of Wyze seems to focus on everyone have 64 GB on the device.
Video files take up a lot of space and Wyze continues to change their directory structure one and a while and I find my 16GB phone filling up. Then I go on the hunt for where they stash new files.

1 Like

On Android I see 6 to 7 GB in site storage occasionally but this is due to using this forum. Luckily it is easy to delete.

I haven’t seen any storage issues with the Wyze app.

@Wmson, normally the reason for “caching” data is to speed up apps and not have to download “common” content all the time. Web sites works the same way - and as you know there can be a lot of “crud” cached up over time. Web browsers need to have their cache cleaned out now and then to ensure a PC remains reasonably speedy.

On mobile apps, it is often even more important to “cache” information as the pipe to download information off the internet is not as fast/unlimited. In case of the Wyze app though, really no reason to “cache” a lot of data as we expect to get fresh content every time we access a camera.

And as I said before, app developers often gets sloppy when it comes to memory management (or have directives from design to cache information in order to have apps appear to be speedy). If only for one app, really does not matter that much, but when every app out of maybe 100 apps “cache” 500 MB each, “sloppy memory management” has a real and severe impact on usability.

3 Likes

Yes, they all are youngsters and never had to live with the likes of the Commodore 64.

8 Likes

:joy:

winning comment!!!

1 Like

I’m guessing you are also referring to the ones who will never know the joy of a tape drive?

4 Likes

Bootstrap loading code by toggling a series of switches to enable pacing of code on paper tape onto HP rack computer around 1980

I still have my Commadore 64 :grin:

I have 5 Wyze cameras, 4 Wyze bulbs, 2 Wyze plugs and my iPhone app is only using 210 MB of data. So, not sure why your phone is using so much?

Are you accessing the forum from your phone?

1 Like

even if he is accessing the forums, I do I’m both browser on my phone and the app on my phone and between those two uses and the usage of 13 different cameras I’m not getting anywhere near that kind of storage use. It is odd it’s that high. unless of course my phone has some sort of automatic cache delete system and his doesn’t. That’s the only thing I can think of as to why it would hold so much stuff.

1 Like

BUT they make mistakes.

Happily they usually correct them,
We just have to constantly monitor space usage.
For instance, I just created a timelapse file. It downloaded and created a “record.h264” size 209.89 MB before creating the Time_Lapse_by_Wyze.mp4 file size 289.85 MB.

I have frequently requested a directory structure map of Wyze, but it has not happened.

2 Likes

Newshound - thank you for the idea, but no, I’m not accessing this forum from my phone. I access the forum from PC. FYI - it’s been about 5 days since I deleted and reinstalled the Wyze app, and Documents & Data cache shows only 14 MB on my iPhone.

1 Like

Oh you kids don’t know how easy you had it with your fancy-pants Commodore 64’s! When I was young, all we had to play with was the Commodore VIC-20, with a cassette-tape recorder as the only storage device. If you were lucky, you subscribed to a magazine that printed PROGRAMs (an app was just an ape with a typo) that you had to re-type line by line (with no typos). We also had to walk 10 miles each way to school in a blizzard - and it was uphill in both directions!

2 Likes

You reminded me of my Timex Sinclair with 16K memory module and tape player. Times were so much simpler then, but also slower.

Afterwards, I got a TI-99. Much faster.

Those are the videos you’ve recorded. They’re saved in your “album” which is local storage. Save the videos from your album to your device and/or delete them from the album and they’re gone.

Thank you, thejamesdarr. My Wyze app Documents & Data cache spiked up to 1.37 GB in the last day or so, As you suggested, I moved the few saved photos and one video from the Wyze app Album to a newly created album in the iPhone Photos app (and erased them from the Wyze app Album), but the Wyze app’s Documents & Data cache storage consumption did not change - it still shows 1.37 GB - weird.

Darn straight! Eyes would get blurry typing in a program. One typo and program failed to execute. Got an add on that put a numeric number after each line entry that was very helpful. The introduction of the disk drives was great even though they weren’t the best.