iOS 8.1.2 + Restore As New?

As you will observe from the composite image here, I have around 2.2GB of "Other' occupying space on my meagre 16GB iPhone 4S. While this is no major concern at present because I have very few additional apps installed, it irks me to see so much space occupied by something I don't know anything about. Over the years, I've read and tried almost all remedies without too much success. The one suggestion I've always balked at was "Restore As New" because this would mean keying in all my passwords, and other personalized information which, over time, has become quite a lot.

Long story short: I decided to bite the bullet and try this suggestion with the new iOS update issued by Apple this morning -- iOS 8.1.2. This update includes "bug fixes" and should address a ringtones removal issue; and the very minor-ness of the release emboldened me to take the "Restore As New" step on my iPhone. The best way to do this in my opinion is via iTunes, rather than over the air, as one can thus overcome any "unavailable space" issues on your device.

Well, the 1.46GB downloaded quickly enough and I began the process of restoring my iPhone "as new" rather than from the many backups I already have.

Unfortunately, my iTunes popped up an error message, telling me it lost contact with my iPhone because, "session ID not found," or words to that effect. Luckily I've had quite a bit of experience with iPhones from way back in 2007, so I just waited with the iPhone plugged into my MBP and iTunes still running. After about 3 or 4 minutes, the iPhone rebooted itself and this time iTunes recognized it.

Taking this as a warning, I decided to "Update" rather than "Restore" and all went through smoothly now, the downloaded update being applied flawlessly.

As you can see, the "Other" component has now reduced to just over 2 GB. While this is smaller than my earlier "Other" component, it is still too much. I intend to do some more exploring over the coming days and will try and report what's what.

All in all, for me it was worth the experience; and I've lived to tell the tale!