iOS 11 allows you to delete rarely-used apps but retain their settings and data

If your device is tight on storage, deleting rarely-used apps is one way to free up space. But up until now it’s come at a price: you lose your settings and data for the app, meaning you have to start again if you re-download it in future.

A nice feature in iOS 11 means that’s no longer the case …

As spotted by Cydia Geeks, iOS 11 introduces a new storage-management option called Offload App.

This will free up storage used by the app, but keep its documents and data. Reinstalling the app will place back your data if the app is still available in the App Store.

Inside General > iPhone Storage, scroll down to the app you want to remove, tap on it and select Offload App. If you do want to remove data and settings, select Delete App instead. The settings screen shows you the space used by the app itself and by its documents and data.

There’s also a second option to allow your device to automatically remove rarely-used apps when you run low on storage. This option is found in General > iPhone Storage. With this enabled, your settings and data will be automatically saved, but the downside is that you may unexpectedly find an app you want to use isn’t available without downloading it again.

Via The Verge