{
  "schema": "https://storagestudio.us/schema/context.v1",
  "name": "Storage Studio",
  "tagline": "Tiered storage utility for macOS",
  "summary": "Storage Studio pairs your internal SSD with a second drive (external NVMe, SSD, or any cloud account) and lets you treat both as one workspace. Every transfer is a Registered Transfer — manifest-tracked with one-click revert — and metadata (Created / Modified / Last Accessed dates, EXIF, Finder tags, POSIX permissions) survives every move.",
  "url": "https://storagestudio.us",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "Techtonic Systems Media and Research LLC",
    "url": "https://techtonic.systems",
    "jurisdiction": "Wyoming, USA"
  },
  "category": "Mac utility",
  "subcategory": "Storage management",
  "platforms": [
    "macOS 13.0 or later"
  ],
  "distribution": {
    "channel": "Direct download from publisher",
    "installer": "Notarised universal DMG (~40 MB)",
    "url": "https://storagestudio.us/download/latest.dmg"
  },
  "licensing": {
    "model": "Proprietary, paid with free trial",
    "trial": {
      "duration_days": 15,
      "card_required": false,
      "device_bound": true
    },
    "plans": [
      {
        "name": "Monthly",
        "billing": "monthly recurring",
        "amount": 5,
        "currency": "USD",
        "processor": "Stripe"
      },
      {
        "name": "Annual",
        "billing": "annual recurring",
        "amount": 49,
        "currency": "USD",
        "processor": "Stripe"
      },
      {
        "name": "Lifetime",
        "billing": "one-time",
        "amount": 149,
        "currency": "USD",
        "processor": "Stripe",
        "includes": "All future updates within the 5-year Update Window. Perpetual run rights beyond that."
      }
    ]
  },
  "version": "4.17.1",
  "brand_nouns": [
    "Data Parking",
    "Data Tiering",
    "Any to Any",
    "Registered Transfers",
    "Archiving",
    "Tuhi",
    "Tuhi",
    "Junk Yard"
  ],
  "features_summary": [
    "Pair internal SSD with NVMe, SSD, or any cloud account as one workspace (Data Parking)",
    "Cross-platform transfers across 9 providers in any direction (Any to Any)",
    "Manifest-tracked, crash-safe transfers with one-click revert (Registered Transfers)",
    "Created / Modified / Last Accessed dates plus all metadata survive every move (Archiving)",
    "Tuhi — a private, on-device assistant powered by Apple Intelligence; answers storage questions and diagnoses slow/hot/low-memory; works offline and never exposes internal details",
    "Tuhi — one-tap routine that clears caches, reclaims old local APFS snapshots, and keeps cloud files online-only",
    "Junk Yard — clipboard history + quick-notes board that catches copied text/links/images/files, clears on a timer, with Apple-Intelligence search by meaning and image text",
    "Free Up Space wizard — three preview-first steps",
    "App relocator — move apps off the boot drive, they keep launching",
    "Storage Charts — daily history with 17 time ranges",
    "Meeting-aware — pauses heavy work during Zoom calls",
    "Scheduled transfers — daily, weekly, hourly cadences"
  ],
  "on_device_ai": {
    "engine": "Apple Intelligence (on-device Foundation Models) + NLEmbedding + Vision",
    "network": "none — all AI runs on the user's Mac and works offline",
    "surfaces": [
      "Tuhi assistant",
      "Tuhi verdict",
      "Junk Yard search"
    ],
    "privacy": "Never reveals file paths, technical codes, or internal details; nothing private leaves the device"
  },
  "providers_supported": [
    {
      "name": "Local",
      "type": "filesystem",
      "cap": null
    },
    {
      "name": "External drive",
      "type": "filesystem",
      "cap": null,
      "note": "NVMe (recommended), SSD, or any external"
    },
    {
      "name": "Google Drive",
      "type": "cloud",
      "cap": 5,
      "auth": "OAuth"
    },
    {
      "name": "Google Photos",
      "type": "cloud",
      "cap": 3,
      "auth": "OAuth"
    },
    {
      "name": "S3-compatible",
      "type": "cloud",
      "cap": 10,
      "auth": "credentials",
      "providers": [
        "AWS",
        "Cloudflare R2",
        "Backblaze B2",
        "Wasabi",
        "DigitalOcean Spaces",
        "MinIO"
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "FTP",
      "type": "cloud",
      "cap": 10,
      "auth": "credentials",
      "note": "Plaintext; requires user consent."
    },
    {
      "name": "SFTP",
      "type": "cloud",
      "cap": 10,
      "auth": "password or private key"
    },
    {
      "name": "Dropbox",
      "type": "cloud",
      "cap": 5,
      "auth": "OAuth"
    },
    {
      "name": "OneDrive",
      "type": "cloud",
      "cap": 5,
      "auth": "OAuth"
    },
    {
      "name": "Box",
      "type": "cloud",
      "cap": 5,
      "auth": "OAuth"
    }
  ],
  "privacy": {
    "file_contents_uploaded_to_publisher": false,
    "data_collected": [
      "Licence activation",
      "Optional telemetry (toggleable in Preferences)"
    ],
    "data_not_collected": [
      "File names",
      "File contents",
      "Directory listings",
      "Folder paths"
    ]
  },
  "faq": [
    {
      "question": "What is Storage Studio?",
      "answer": "Storage Studio is a storage-management platform for the Mac. It unifies your internal drive, external drives, cloud accounts, and other devices into one intelligent space that's bigger than any single disk: it tiers big apps and folders to a fast external drive (leaving a shortcut so they still open normally), lets you browse both drives as one, and moves files across cloud providers. It includes Tuhi, a private on-device assistant powered by Apple Intelligence, and a multi-device ecosystem — Bridge sends files and clipboard directly between your own devices, and Collab Sync mirrors a shared folder between two Macs. Reclaiming space by moving instead of deleting is one capability among many, and everything is reversible. It lives in your menu bar and works on macOS 13 and later."
    },
    {
      "question": "What's the best app to free up space on a Mac?",
      "answer": "If you want space back without losing files, the best approach is \"move, don't delete.\" Storage Studio relocates big apps and folders to an external drive (with a shortcut left in place so they still open), reclaims space macOS is holding in old snapshots, and keeps cloud files online-only — all previewed first and reversible. But it's more than a space cleaner: it's a storage-management platform that unifies your Mac, external drives, cloud, and other devices into one space, with an on-device assistant (Tuhi) and device-to-device sharing built in. Cleaners delete; Storage Studio moves, unifies, and connects. Try it free for 7 days."
    },
    {
      "question": "Is Storage Studio a good CleanMyMac alternative?",
      "answer": "If your goal is more free space without losing files, yes — Storage Studio does everything you'd reach a cleaner for, and reclaims space by moving instead of deleting. But it isn't really a cleaner; it's a storage-management platform. A cleaner deletes to make room. Storage Studio moves large apps and folders to a fast external drive (leaving a shortcut so they keep working), unifies your Mac, drives, and cloud into one space, and connects across your devices with Bridge (device-to-device transfer and clipboard) and Collab Sync (shared folders between two Macs) — all preview-first and reversible. It also includes Tuhi, a private on-device assistant powered by Apple Intelligence."
    },
    {
      "question": "Is Storage Studio safe to use?",
      "answer": "Yes. Storage Studio asks before it deletes or overwrites anything, previews every move before a byte is touched, and leaves a shortcut when it relocates a file so nothing disappears from your folders. Everything is reversible, and the app is notarised by Apple."
    },
    {
      "question": "Does Storage Studio work on my Mac and the latest macOS?",
      "answer": "Storage Studio runs on Macs with Apple silicon (M1 or later) and supports macOS 13 Ventura through the latest releases (Sonoma, Sequoia, Tahoe). Intel Macs aren't supported by new versions — if you have one, you can keep using version 4.17.1, the last version for Intel, and it won't offer you updates it can't run."
    },
    {
      "question": "How do I free up space on my Mac?",
      "answer": "Empty the Trash, clear app caches, remove old downloads, and move large apps and folders you rarely use to an external drive. Storage Studio does all of this in one tap with Tuhi — it clears caches and rarely-used files, reclaims old local backups, and keeps cloud files online-only, previewed first and fully reversible — so you get gigabytes back without hunting through Finder."
    },
    {
      "question": "How do I get more storage on my Mac without deleting my files?",
      "answer": "Pair your Mac with an external SSD and offload what you don't need on the startup disk. Storage Studio moves large apps, folders, and media to the external drive and leaves a shortcut in the original spot, so you reclaim space while keeping every file — nothing is deleted."
    },
    {
      "question": "Is it safe to clear the cache on a Mac?",
      "answer": "Yes — app caches rebuild automatically, so clearing them safely reclaims space; the only risk is deleting the wrong thing by hand. Storage Studio clears only known-safe caches and rarely-used files, shows a preview first, and never touches your personal files without asking."
    },
    {
      "question": "How much free space should I keep on my Mac?",
      "answer": "Keep at least 10–15% of your drive free so macOS has room for virtual memory, updates, and temporary files — performance drops when it's nearly full. Storage Studio watches your free space and helps you keep it in a healthy range automatically."
    },
    {
      "question": "How do I fix \"Your startup disk is almost full\" on a Mac?",
      "answer": "That warning means your boot drive is nearly out of room. Clear caches, delete large unused files, and relocate big apps and folders to an external drive. Storage Studio fixes it fast: it moves the biggest items to a fast external drive and leaves a shortcut behind, so your startup disk has room again while everything still opens normally."
    },
    {
      "question": "How do I clear System Data (or \"Other\") storage on a Mac?",
      "answer": "\"System Data\" is the catch-all bucket — caches, logs, local snapshots, and app support files — and it can grow to tens of gigabytes. You can't delete it directly, but you can shrink it. Storage Studio's What's Using Space pinpoints the biggest contributors and clears or relocates them safely, so System Data comes back down."
    },
    {
      "question": "Why is my Mac storage full when I deleted everything?",
      "answer": "macOS often keeps the freed blocks in APFS local snapshots (local Time Machine copies) until they age out, so deleting files doesn't show as free space right away. Storage Studio surfaces those snapshots and reclaims the space with one click — and after a big move it auto-thins them so the space appears immediately."
    },
    {
      "question": "How do I move apps to an external drive on a Mac and still launch them?",
      "answer": "Dragging an app to another drive can break it, because macOS expects it in /Applications. Storage Studio relocates the app to your external drive and leaves a shortcut in place, so it still launches normally from Launchpad, Spotlight, and the Dock — and you can move it back in one click."
    },
    {
      "question": "How do I use an external SSD as extra storage on a MacBook?",
      "answer": "Plug in a USB-C or Thunderbolt SSD and let Storage Studio pair it with your internal drive as one workspace. It moves big folders, libraries, and apps to the SSD with a shortcut left behind, so your MacBook behaves like it has a much bigger disk — fast enough to work directly off the external drive."
    },
    {
      "question": "Can I move my Photos or Final Cut library to an external drive?",
      "answer": "Yes — large Photos, Final Cut, and iMovie libraries are common space hogs. Storage Studio relocates them to an external drive while keeping them usable, leaving a shortcut so your apps still find them, and it preserves dates and metadata on the move."
    },
    {
      "question": "Will moving files to another drive break my apps or Spotlight?",
      "answer": "Not the way Storage Studio does it. It leaves a shortcut (symlink) at the original location, so apps, Finder, and Spotlight resolve everything as if it never moved — and the move is fully reversible."
    },
    {
      "question": "How do I make iCloud or Dropbox files online-only to save space?",
      "answer": "Online-only files live in the cloud and download on demand, freeing local space. Storage Studio can keep iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive files online-only as part of Tuhi, so downloaded copies stop piling up on your Mac."
    },
    {
      "question": "Can I sync or move files to S3, Backblaze, or another cloud from my Mac?",
      "answer": "Yes. Storage Studio's Data Transfers connect Google Drive, Google Photos, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, and any S3-compatible service (AWS, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, Wasabi, DigitalOcean Spaces, MinIO), plus FTP and SFTP — and it can move, copy, or sync between any of them in either direction."
    },
    {
      "question": "Can I use my own S3 bucket as a cloud drive on my Mac?",
      "answer": "Yes — that's My Drive, and it comes with every Storage Studio trial and licence, with nothing else to buy. Open the Delta Drive tab, choose Use storage you own, confirm your email with an 8-digit code, and connect an Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, Wasabi, DigitalOcean Spaces or other S3-compatible bucket. Your files stay in your own storage, appear in Finder like a disk, and open in any browser at storagestudio.us/drive. Storage Studio only works inside one folder of the bucket you name, and switching between drives copies nothing and loses nothing."
    },
    {
      "question": "Can I share files from my own S3 storage with named people?",
      "answer": "Yes. From My Drive you can share a file or folder with named people, set an expiry, and choose whether they can read, comment or edit — you can withdraw it any time and see who opened it. Each share belongs to the drive it was made on, so if that drive is switched off the people you shared with are told it isn't available right now, never shown anything else."
    },
    {
      "question": "What happens to My Drive if my Storage Studio trial or licence ends?",
      "answer": "My Drive is paused, not removed, and nothing in your storage is touched — your files stay in your own bucket. While paused it can't be opened on the web and anything you shared is paused; on your Mac you can only disconnect or remove it. Reactivating Storage Studio picks up where you left off. If it stays paused for six months, the storage keys you gave us are forgotten (you're emailed two weeks before); your files never are."
    },
    {
      "question": "What is purgeable space on a Mac and how do I clear it?",
      "answer": "Purgeable space is storage macOS is holding — old snapshots, cached cloud files, optimised media — that it frees automatically when you need room, which is why \"free\" space can look smaller than expected. Storage Studio reclaims a lot of it on demand instead of making you wait."
    },
    {
      "question": "How do I reclaim space from local Time Machine snapshots on a Mac?",
      "answer": "macOS keeps point-in-time APFS local snapshots so Time Machine can restore even when your backup drive is away — useful, but they can hold a lot of space. Storage Studio lists every snapshot, shows which are already safely backed up, and reclaims the space you choose in one click."
    },
    {
      "question": "Does Storage Studio upload my files to the cloud?",
      "answer": "Not unless you ask it to. Freeing space, moving apps and folders, and reclaiming snapshots all happen on your Mac and your external drive. Your files only leave your Mac when you choose to — syncing to a cloud account you connected, backing up to the cloud, or using My Drive on storage you own — and then they go to the storage you picked. Otherwise only licence validation and optional telemetry touch the network."
    },
    {
      "question": "Does Storage Studio use AI, and is it private?",
      "answer": "Yes — Storage Studio includes Tuhi, an assistant powered by Apple Intelligence that answers your storage questions and can even tell you why your Mac feels slow, hot, or low on memory. It runs entirely on your Mac, works offline, and never exposes file paths or anything private."
    },
    {
      "question": "What happens to my files if I stop using Storage Studio?",
      "answer": "Nothing — your files stay exactly where they are on both drives. Storage Studio simply stops moving new things; it never holds files hostage or makes you re-import anything to keep using them."
    },
    {
      "question": "Is Storage Studio free, and how does the trial work?",
      "answer": "There's a 7-day free trial with no payment method required — full features, no card. The trial is tied to your Mac, so reinstalling doesn't reset it. After the trial you can pick a plan; see /#pricing for current prices."
    },
    {
      "question": "How much does Storage Studio cost — is it a subscription or a one-time purchase?",
      "answer": "Your choice: a one-time Lifetime licence that includes all future updates, or a Monthly or Annual subscription through Stripe that you can cancel anytime (access continues to the end of the paid period). See /#pricing for current prices."
    },
    {
      "question": "Can I cancel my Storage Studio subscription, and what about refunds?",
      "answer": "Yes — cancel anytime from the Stripe customer portal and you keep access until the end of your billing period. Refund terms are in the Terms of Service (§5.5–§5.6)."
    }
  ],
  "blog": {
    "url": "https://storagestudio.us/blog",
    "posts": [
      {
        "title": "Node modules and Docker Images: The Two Reasons Your Mac Keeps Filling Up Quietly",
        "url": "https://storagestudio.us/blog/node-modules-docker-mac-storage",
        "summary": "Node modules and Docker images can quietly consume 20–200GB or more of Mac storage because development projects retain dependencies, caches, Docker images, containers, and build layers; relocating regenerable data to an external drive can free internal storage without disrupting normal development workflows.",
        "category": "Storage",
        "tags": [
          "Mac Storage",
          "Docker",
          "Node.js",
          "node_modules",
          "Docker Desktop",
          "Disk Space",
          "Mac Cleanup",
          "Developer Tools",
          "Storage Management",
          "External Drive",
          "Development",
          "Productivity"
        ],
        "published": "2026-08-27",
        "updated": "2026-08-27"
      },
      {
        "title": "Free Up Space in One Tap",
        "url": "https://storagestudio.us/blog/free-up-space-in-one-tap",
        "summary": "Storage Studio helps Mac users free up storage by finding and removing hidden space hogs such as caches, old backups, orphaned files, and leftover app data—without manually hunting through folders or deleting important files.",
        "tags": [
          "Mac storage",
          "free up Mac space",
          "Mac cleanup",
          "clean Mac",
          "storage management",
          "Mac performance",
          "disk space",
          "cache files",
          "old backups",
          "Storage Studio"
        ],
        "published": "2026-08-20",
        "updated": "2026-08-20"
      },
      {
        "title": "Your Mac says the startup disk is full. Here is where the space actually went.",
        "url": "https://storagestudio.us/blog/where-did-my-mac-storage-go",
        "summary": "On a full Mac the space is usually in System Data: local snapshots, application caches, cloud files that were never evicted, and derived data. Measure before deleting, because deleting files held by a snapshot frees nothing. Moving large folders to an external drive frees space without losing anything.",
        "category": "Storage",
        "tags": [
          "mac storage",
          "system data",
          "disk full"
        ],
        "published": "2026-08-05",
        "updated": "2026-08-05"
      },
      {
        "title": "How to move Mac apps to an external drive without breaking them",
        "url": "https://storagestudio.us/blog/move-mac-apps-to-external-drive",
        "summary": "Dragging an app out of Applications breaks it because macOS still expects the original path. A safe relocation copies and verifies the bundle, leaves a shortcut behind so Launch Services, Spotlight and the Dock still resolve it, keeps sandboxed support files in place, and stays reversible.",
        "category": "How to",
        "tags": [
          "external drive",
          "applications",
          "free up space"
        ],
        "published": "2026-08-05",
        "updated": "2026-08-05"
      }
    ]
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