iPad storage and software updates

[Glynne]

I have an oldish 32GB iPad and my storage was ~ 29GB
The last 2 updates iOS 17 & iOS 18 required ~ 6GB of space and so I was unable to update directly and so I connected to my iMac desktop, backed up everything, reset to factory settings and loaded the new software before restoring all of my data. The whole process being a pain in the proverbial.

My query is that I now have iOS 18 but my storage is now 22.5GB!
I don’t appear to have lost anything but can’t understand how I seemed to have gained around 6GB of storage.
Can anyone advise please as I was tempted to upgrade my iPad so I wouldn’t have to go through the rigmarole again but with over 9GB of space, I should be OK for the next software version?
Thanks.

 

[woodieallen]

Eh? Maybe I'm misreading this but if you had 29GB before the upgrade and now you have 22.5GB, how is that a gain ?

I have a relatively new one but haven't opted to upgrade as there is nothing of interest for me and so why risk incompatibility with other stuff? Just a shame that you can't just upgade the security stuff.