Apple sheds more light on iOS 17.5 bug that resurfaced deleted photos

Last week, some iPhone users reported that Apple’s iOS 17.5 update introduced a bug that caused old photos that had been deleted to reappear in the Photos app. Apple quickly released an iOS 17.5.1 update to fix the problem, but for many users, the explanation of “database corruption” in the release notes was all too brief and did little to address their privacy concerns. remove data.

Apple has now provided more details about the problem and what caused it. Speak with 9to5MacApple reportedly said the problem had nothing to do with iCloud Photos and that the company never had access to the deleted photos. Rather, a corrupted database entry on the affected devices was the cause of deleted photos reappearing. In other words, the deleted images that were recovered were local and never left these devices.

Apple said that in some rare cases, iOS 17.5 had accidentally recovered files from the corrupted data and repopulated the Photos app with the deleted images. Apple claimed that the issue affected a small number of users and a small number of photos.

Explaining reports that some recovered photos were very old, Apple said that in some cases the corrupted data may have been copied from one device to another when restoring from a local backup, performing a device-to-device transfer device or restoring a backup from an iCloud device (i.e. without iCloud Photos).

One claim on Reddit, which has since been deleted, claimed that the user’s photos reappeared on an iPad that had been wiped and sold to a friend. Apple said this could not have been the case if the user had erased the device prior to sale using the Erase All Content and Settings option in Settings ➝ General ➝ Transfer or Reset. The user had not completed this necessary step, or the claim was incorrect.

Notably, Apple’s iOS 17.5.1 update to fix the problem does not delete previously deleted photos that reappeared after updating to iOS 17.5. Affected users will therefore have to manually delete these images again and will be moved to the Recently Deleted album in the Photos app, where they will remain for 30 days. Recently deleted photos in this folder can also be deleted immediately by choosing Delete from all devices.