This is my review of the 2013 iPhone 5s, in the form of blog-style posts. I had it given to me in December of 2024 and have been using it since. A lot of these posts are pasted from my tumblr blog as that is where I documented the experience at the time. (Sorted new-old)
I forgot to finish writing the previous post so here are some more updates & solutions now that I have been using this phone for ages.
Back on the subject of storage, I have also since started using iPods to store music/photos that are important to me, so thats another way in which I prevent filling up all of my phone storage.
A few moments ago as an experiment I turned on iCloud photos, so I will update this at some point and let you know if it works :)
Apple watch: quite an easy work around, I just don't use an apple watch anymore. Is this a slight waste of money, yes of course, but my phone has a built in health tracker and clock (believe it or not xD) both of which work just fine. Besides I'm not super into fitness anymore, maybe due to the lack of watch... who knows?
Battery: This is definetly a downside. It doesn't tend to bother me as I just don't use my phone as much during the day, but if I spend 25 minutes scrolling Tumblr, I am sure to pay for it later.
Compatability issues: As of May 2025, WhatsApp is no longer supported on devices using iOS 12. Admittedly this affects other people more than I, it just means I have to explain to other people that if they want to send me photographs, then they will have to do so through MMS or other means. And nobody wants to use MMS xD. All in all, I'm happy with the apps that I do have, there are just a few websites (including ones I use for college like Microsoft Teams) that don't work. I've still got old versions of Snapchat, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, [My Banking App], [My College's Student App], Forest (A productivity timer app), Shazam and Audible. So what more could you possibly need. Anything else I usually just get on my iPad. For membership cards, I screen shot them and put them in an album. (This does however mean that if I want to redeem a free costa drink I have to awkardly scan my iPad, but hey, it makes for good fun!)
Back-ups: it has now magically decided it is capable of back-ups over wifi. Well done Butterfly! I'm not sure when exactly this became a thing, I think it took multiple months, but here we are!
I haven't had any issues with storage since that last post, don't get me wrong, you have to be careful to not over-load it, but it's almost been a year and I'm managing just fine with it. I've discovered some solutions to storage issues that I have been using since, the most important being how I manage photos and videos:
I make sure that iCloud photos is turned OFF. I havent tested it since I first got it, but having iCloud photos enabled took up about 3GB of my storage with the low quality versions of each image. Instead, I take any photos that I like, then every so often air drop them to my ipad, hence uploading them to icloud. Afterwards I delete them from my phone to give me more storage space.
Let me elaborate. The storage is killing both me and little Butterfly (that’s what I’ve called her). The system storage is taking up near enough 14GB of data of my 16GB total storage. I’ve reset the phone and tried everything possible. I’m an apple nerd, trust me, I know the ins and outs. But nothing. There is sometimes a brief glimpse of hope but is soon washed away by a sudden need to remove any ounce of available storage.
I found that yesterday I left it for a few hours untouched and it became usable again, but then here we are - again. No avalible storage, and no reliability.
It’s super frustrating because I don’t want to go back to my other phone. I’m using it at the moment because I can’t re-download tumblr on my other one.
I’m strongly debating trading in this model and buying another one with 64GB of storage. It’s still half of what I’m used to but hopefully Apple won’t screw me over with it.
Idk if it’s worth the risk though, it would be about £40 down the drain. Plus this current iPhone 5s because in that scenario I will be trading it in (£20 pounds off is better than nothing haha).
I wonder if I can find a way to install an older operating system onto it. I don’t know, sounds like research to do during the daylight hours haha. At least that way I can see my way out of the rabbit hole.
Here are some notes about the phone that I’ve made on the phone since getting it.
I have run into my first hurdle: this phone will not support my Apple Watch without the latest iOS installed. This is not something that I want to do (Install the latest iOS), because:
1. You lose the authenticity of an old device
2.I like iOS 12, it’s very nostalgic
3. Ultimately it will slow the phone down - likely beyond usablility.
I’m left with three options here:
1. Scrap the project and just go back to using my phone (no)
2. Just stop using my Apple Watch (ehhhhh :/// I could do that, but I’ve got an expensive modern watch haha)
3. Save up £80 and buy and Apple Watch series 4 of cex. ( :) )
I’m going to keep my watch connected to my old phone for now, but I am looking to give my iPhone 12 to someone. At the moment I’m going through the “free trial” of using the phone, to see if I can actually make this work. I love this so much!!!!
Oct, 2025: when I wrote this I hadn't realised that it was on the latest SUPPORTED version of ios already, so I wouldn't be able to upgrade, even if I wanted to.
Here are some things that I’ve learnt by using an iPhone 5s 1. There is no dark mode! My eyes are scorched. But hey, all the more reason not to be glued to my phone all the time. 2. Already I feel like I don’t care so much for “streaks” and data analytics as I used to (eg. Music stats and log in streaks). I love love love finch. For those who don’t know, it’s a reminders app with a bird that you can give energy by completing your goals. Love it: the 170 day streak really is saying something. However it doesn’t run well on my new/old phone. I feel like usually I’d be annoyed or distraught but I don’t really mind. I still have my reminders app that I can use. Is it sad? A little. But I can always visit Valentina (my bird) on my iPad if I feel so inclined. [UPDATE Oct, 2025, I have not used finch in months...] There are a few other points that I could make but I’m very tired and want to sleep, so stay tuned for another update tomorrow ♡
GUESS WHO GOT AN IPHONE 5S FOR CHRISTMAS! I am living my 2014 tumblr dream!