DumpSock

Free up iPhone storage ​

DumpSock's optional "wring it dry" mode removes each file from the iPhone after it's safely on your disk. The bytes are freed immediately.

How to enable ​

GUI: Settings → tick "Wring it dry — delete from device after backup" → run a backup → confirm in the modal that pops up.

CLI:

bash
dumpsock pull --delete-after --confirm-delete

Both flags are required together — the CLI errors out if you set --delete-after without --confirm-delete. That's deliberate. The GUI has the same gate via the confirmation modal.

How it actually works ​

DumpSock uses Apple's standard AFC (Apple File Conduit) service to talk to the iPhone over USB. After every file is verified at the destination (size + byte-count match the remote), DumpSock issues an AFC delete on the corresponding /var/mobile/Media/DCIM/... path. The bytes are gone from the filesystem immediately — iPhone storage drops by the size of the freed files.

The Photos.app caveat ​

iOS keeps two layers between you and the photo bytes:

  1. The filesystem at /var/mobile/Media/DCIM/. This is what DumpSock can reach over AFC.
  2. The Photos.app database at /var/mobile/Media/PhotoData/Photos.sqlite. This is what the Photos app shows you. DumpSock cannot touch it (Apple sandboxes it).

When DumpSock removes a file from the DCIM filesystem, the Photos.app database still holds a row pointing to where that file used to live. So you'll see "ghost" entries in Photos with a small ! badge and "unable to load higher quality version".

This is normal. The bytes are gone (your iPhone storage reflects it). The ghosts are just stale database rows.

Clearing the ghosts ​

Apple intentionally requires you to confirm photo deletions with Face ID / Touch ID on the device. No USB tool can bypass that. Two-step manual cleanup:

  1. Open Photos → Library → All Photos.
  2. Tap any ghost → Select → Select All → trash icon → Confirm with Face ID.
  3. Open Albums → Recently Deleted → Select → Delete All → Confirm with Face ID.

After step 3, the database rows are truly gone.

One-Touch-ID automation is on the roadmap. Issue #1 tracks an iPhone Mirroring-based flow that automates the entire cleanup with a single Touch ID on the Mac — Apple's iPhone Mirroring intentionally substitutes Mac Touch ID for iPhone Face ID, which is the loophole.

Why iPhone storage may take a few minutes to fully reflect ​

iOS lazily reindexes Photo storage. Right after a large delete-after run, the Settings → General → iPhone Storage number may take a few minutes to catch up to reality. Storage is freed at the filesystem layer instantly; the Settings number is just a cached aggregate.