How do I clear data listed as "Other" on my iPhone?

Since iOS 1 I have always lost Gigs of storage to the "Other" category on my iPhone.

I have cleared my Safari data, told my phone not to sync music, apps and just about every other syncable option and yet I still find myself loosing 2-4 gigs of storage after about a month of use.

I have read that the issue lies in the way iOS and iTunes handle deleting data, incomplete synchronization and building the iTunes library on the Phone.

The "Other" Section in iTunes normally does contain 70 - 200 MBs for system information but 2-4 gigs is clearly an error. How can I fix this or am I stuck Restoring my phone every month?

Problem Details:

• iTunes is up to date and I have tried on both OS X 10.6.x and 10.7.x
• Have Had issue with iPhone, 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S, iPad and iPod touch 2nd Gen.
• Devices are not and have not been jailbroken
• Application data has been accounted for
• Safari Data has been cleared
• 5.1GB Audio/0.01GB Photos 3.1GB Apps/0.04GB Books

Solution 1:

I cleared 2gb of "other" space by using DiskAid to dig into the file system of the phone and clear out corrupted data.

WARNING - this may be dangerous, use extreme caution. If in doubt, don't.

Once diskaid is installed and running, click the file system menu on the left to expand the folders on the right. When looking around, I found a 2gb file in applicationarchives related to a program that I know didn't download correctly, and had since been deleted. Removing the file freed up the "other" space.

Solution 2:

I have been looking into this issue for a long time and it would seem that the problems lie in the textlogs. If you like to save all of your text conversations and your contacts like to send you pics and movies then your other data will fill up with this you can also save a lot of space by deleting your voicemail and deleting the trash and old messages.

Solution 3:

I had 3.5Gb of "Other", so I did a wipe and restore, and now I have 0.62Gb of "Other".

Solution 4:

Figured it out in my case, with iTunes Match installed go to Settings > General > Usage then click Music and swipe to delete, then restart your phone.

All your music is still there and other is cleared. This can also help in traditional sync if your phone is confused and has music from more than one computer. This isn't supposed to happen, so the system no longer cleans older music up and this is less destructive than a total erase/restore.