Apple Explains the Whole Mess behind Reappearing Photos on iOS
Just recently, Apple came under fire following several user complaints that deleted photos have started to reappear on their devices, following the iOS 17.5 update. While the company has since fixed the issue with a newer software patch, it hasn’t been clear on what caused it, that is until now.
The phenomenon was first noticed by a number of users a few days ago, who noted that photos which were deleted have begun to resurface within their device’s photo library. More users eventually came forward with the same issue, prompting some to question why deleted files were somehow retained on their device and iCloud backups, with some images dating as far back as more than a decade ago.
Apple now says that the issue was caused by database corruption, although it further clarified what happened to cause the issue for many users. Speaking to the folks at 9to5Mac, Apple states that iCloud Photos is not to blame, but instead attributes the problem to a corrupt database entry that existed on a device’s file system.
The company adds that the photos that weren’t fully deleted from a user’s device were not synced to iCloud Photos, and instead were saved locally. Thus, the files could have remained from one device to another when restoring from a backup, initiating a device-to-device transfer, or when restoring from an iCloud Backup but not via iCloud Photos.
Apple went on to say that the issue was rare and only affected a small number of users and a small number of photos, adding that it does not access a user’s photos or video files.
Source: 9to5Mac