Prior to iOS 5, the system never deleted the contents of Caches and tmp, so they were safe places for apps to put data that should always be available but could be redownloaded if the user did a complete restore or otherwise lost all data, and therefore shouldn’t be taking up space in backups and slowing down syncs. […]
But in iOS 5, there’s an important change: Caches and tmp — the only two directories that aren’t backed up — are “cleaned” out when the device is low on space.
It’s properly ridiculous that this is happening in the version of the OS that introduces the Newsstand. Magazine apps download 300MB issues, are required by the developer guidelines to store them in the Cache folder, and… iOS is going to delete the issue without warning when it’s low on space? Nice forethought, guys. Particularly considering that, as Marco Arment points out, this problem is most likely to manifest itself precisely when you’re stocking up your iPad with media in anticipation for an internet-free trip.
Until it’s fixed, you know what this means: always leave a gig or two free on your device.
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