I own an apple iPhone 5c (8 Gb) and an iPad mini (16 Gb). Yes, there are some unfortunate people like me who are stuck with an 8 Gb model. That’s one of the main reasons for this post.
In an iphone 8gb model installed with ios 9.3.1, you are supposed to get about 5 Gb of free space. But when I connected my phone to a wifi network, I lost about 2 Gb of space further. Surprisingly, this space is not accounted for as an update in Settings->General->Storage and iCloud Usage. On connecting the phone to iTunes, this extra space is indicated under the elusive “Other” section. Mind you, this is not an exactly an IOS update because even after updating to 9.3.2, this space refuses to budge. Also, I did reset my phone quite a few times. Initially, I almost have 4.8 Gb of free space. As soon as I connect it to my wifi network, this space is quickly gobbled up. Now, without connecting to wifi, my phone works perfectly fine even with mobile data. So, this mysterious “Other” section is definitely not essential. Further, note that this cannot be media or personal data because I did reset my phone. How I know this “Other” part is a data is because I blocked two update servers by apple in my router. After I reset my phone again, I could connect to wifi without my internet plan or speed being mysteriously gobbled up. Those servers are:
- mesu.apple.com – Apple’s Mobile Asset Software Update service. Provides an XML file with information about available iOS updates. When blocked, devices cannot determine that a new update is available.
- appndlnd.apple.com – (Optional) Apple’s iOS and software repository. Where devices will actually download the iOS update from. However, other software and updates are also provided by this URL. Blocking may not be desirable in all environments.
This is ridiculous. Yeah, I mean buying an 8 Gb model is stupid in the first place but selling one is not a grand move by apple in itself. Thing is, since I have bought a device from apple, do I own it? If I do, they why does my device not listen to me and decide to gobble up my internet plan when I connect it to wifi? Should apple not pay for my data plan? That of course is not the main issue here. The point is that it sets a very dangerous precedent. Same goes for Windows 10. They somehow decide that user incapable of deciding if they want to update or not. All in the name of security. Isn’t this the same line of reasoning that the NSA used to spy on people? Aren’t these companies infringing on some right of ours? We bought a device from them so we should have the right to decide how we want the device/product to behave.
In a world where services provided by companies are increasingly complex, it is a sort of black box to the users. Then, who ensures that such a device/product mass produced by the company does not act against the interests of the user? Is there a regulatory body who unpacks these commercial black boxes and ensures that these devices are not serving any mysterious functions without the knowledge of the user. I would have decided to move to court against these companies for my right to choose if I get these updates but seriously blocking apple servers is much easier. Windows 10 for now is not aggressively pushing updates. But, in the interest of all the people concerned, it warrants a case against these companies.
Familiarity vs Curiosity 