iPhone Pro Tip: The Usage Menu is a Powerful Tool

I consider myself a knowledgeable iOS user. I can fix almost any problem that my iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch throws my way, but over the weekend I learned how to utilize a powerful tool built in to the operating system that I didn't even know existed.

It's called Usage and it's amazing.

I have a 16GB iPad 2. I bought the small one because I have so much cloud-based storage that I didn't think I would need the extra space. It turns out I was wrong. I didn't take into account the size of the apps, and I'm already running out of space.

Rather than randomly deleting apps and media and hoping that I cleared up space, I wanted a way to show what apps were taking up the most room. Initially I imagined an app doing this, but Apple already built a feature into iOS 5 called Usage.

The Usage menu will sort your apps by size allowing you to delete their data or the entire app. It will also show you your iCloud storage, and in iPhone user's case, cellular and tether statistics. It really is very powerful.

To access Usage, open Settings and tap General. Usage will be the third option from the top.

Now don't go crazy with power.