A little creepy - wallpaper showing photos I took and deleted a year ago

[ChromeCrescendo]

So I just downloaded iOS 18 and was checking to see what new wallpapers were avilable

Much to my surprise, there were photos that I took and deleted a year ago (that are not in my iCloud either) that showed up as suggestions for wallpaper

Anyone else experiencing this? How is this possible?

It is pretty creepy


Edited for spelling

 

[jdavid_rp]

What happens when in edit mode you choose to see that picture in the gallery?

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

What happens when in edit mode you choose to see that picture in the gallery?

The photos do not appear in the gallery (they do not exist on either my iPhone 15 Pro Max nor in my iCloud)

How is Apple accessing these photos - they should no longer exist

 

[jdavid_rp]

The photos do not appear in the gallery (they do not exist on either my iPhone 15 Pro Max nor in my iCloud)

How is Apple accessing these photos - they should no longer exist

Yeah, but the actual button to show this exact picture, what does it do? Just opens the photos app?

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

Yeah, but the actual button to show this exact picture, what does it do? Just opens the photos app?

In the "Suggested Photos" section of the "Add new wallpapers" screen, I can click on the that wallpaper and swipe through all the "styles" available to use it as a wallpaper, it is as if the photo still exists

 

[jdavid_rp]

In the "Suggested Photos" section of the "Add new wallpapers" screen, I can click on the that wallpaper and swipe through all the "styles" available to use it as a wallpaper, it is as if the photo still exists

Yeah, but if you tap the three dots on the right there is a button to see that picture on the gallery, have you tried that to see where it takes you?

 

[Tagbert]

So I just downloaded iOS 18 and was checking to see what new wallpapers were avilable

Much to my surprise, there were photos that I took and deleted a year ago (that are not in my iCloud either) that showed up as suggestions for wallpaper

Anyone else experiencing this? How is this possible?

It is pretty creepy


Edited for spelling

Is there a Recovered Photos folder in your Photos app? There was a bug a while back where some photos were scheduled to be deleted but only removed from the Photos index and the files were not deleted. (Photos has a system like the trash can where recently deleted photos are supposed to be available to undelete.) Later, a cleanup process was added that notices some lost photos in the Photos library and added them back into the index. It looked like deleted photos coming back but they had just gotten lost under the couch cushions instead.

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

Yeah, but if you tap the three dots on the right there is a button to see that picture on the gallery, have you tried that to see where it takes you?

View attachment 2420983

Yes, it takes me to the Photos App and shows me what photos are available therein

The suggested photo is not there

That is what I am confused about - how does the suggested photo still exist, considering it was taken approximately a year ago and deleted from both the phone and iCloud

Is there a Recovered Photos folder in your Photos app? There was a bug a while back where some photos were scheduled to be deleted but only removed from the Photos index and the files were not deleted. (Photos has a system like the trash can where recently deleted photos are supposed to be available to undelete.) Later, a cleanup process was added that notices some lost photos in the Photos library and added them back into the index. It looked like deleted photos coming back but they had just gotten lost under the couch cushions instead.

No, there is not an "Recovered Photos" folder -- I checked all folders -- I am not a big photo taker - I only have a couple of screenshots actually in my photos app

 

[Square-Eyes]

Maybe selecting a photo as wallpaper makes a separate copy of the photo as a wallpaper. Conversely I don’t think I’d want a wallpaper to be deleted when I delete the original photo. I presume you can just delete the wallpaper?

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

Maybe selecting a photo as wallpaper makes a separate copy of the photo as a wallpaper. Conversely I don’t think I’d want a wallpaper to be deleted when I delete the original photo. I presume you can just delete the wallpaper?

I just tried it again and now I have all these options I did not have previously (like kaleidoscope, etc.) and there are no suggested photos at all -- but, it still begs the question how those 2 suggested photos could be suggested when they were no longer in existence on my phone or in iCloud from last year

 

[NoBoMac]

Maybe selecting a photo as wallpaper makes a separate copy of the photo as a wallpaper. Conversely I don’t think I’d want a wallpaper to be deleted when I delete the original photo.

Most likely this. Seem to recall seeing this type of behavior in the past. Remembers the wallpaper but source image was deleted.

 

[Tagbert]

I just tried it again and now I have all these options I did not have previously (like kaleidoscope, etc.) and there are no suggested photos at all -- but, it still begs the question how those 2 suggested photos could be suggested when they were no longer in existence on my phone or in iCloud from last year

There is likely a cache where photos are copied when you select them for wallpaper.

 

[xraydoc]

I just tried it again and now I have all these options I did not have previously (like kaleidoscope, etc.) and there are no suggested photos at all -- but, it still begs the question how those 2 suggested photos could be suggested when they were no longer in existence on my phone or in iCloud from last year

You definitely should file a bug report with Apple. Even consider an executive email blast.

 

[MisterSavage]

There was a big bug that came to light this year about deleted photos possibly reappearing. But it was supposed to be fixed by now.

Apple’s Photo Bug Exposes the Myth of ‘Deleted’

An Apple Photos glitch, now fixed, is a reminder that digital bits of your life will live on forever.

www.wired.com

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

Most likely this. Seem to recall seeing this type of behavior in the past. Remembers the wallpaper but source image was deleted.

I do not recall ever putting a goofy selfie I took as wallpaper
Very strange

 

[itjustworks!]

I've just come across this problem and can't find a way to clear the suggested photo.

I periodically move all photos off my iPhone so the photo being suggested was removed months, if not years ago. It doesn't exist in the Photos app (I have like 6 photos, and nothing in deleted items). I've disabled featured photos, reset memories, and restarted the device... yet the photo remains as a suggestion. It's not even a saved wallpaper, nor do I remember ever creating one. It just shows up whenever I go into wallpaper customisation.

In my case, it's not a big deal, but it's more the principle. This is a privacy misstep by Apple IMO. There is no obvious way to remove the photo, and I don't even know if it's possible.

 

[Tagbert]

I've just come across this problem and can't find a way to clear the suggested photo.

I periodically move all photos off my iPhone so the photo being suggested was removed months, if not years ago. It doesn't exist in the Photos app (I have like 6 photos, and nothing in deleted items). I've disabled featured photos, reset memories, and restarted the device... yet the photo remains as a suggestion. It's not even a saved wallpaper, nor do I remember ever creating one. It just shows up whenever I go into wallpaper customisation.

In my case, it's not a big deal, but it's more the principle. This is a privacy misstep by Apple IMO. There is no obvious way to remove the photo, and I don't even know if it's possible.

I think, when you chose a photo for wallpaper, it gets copied to a caching area so it can be retrieved quickly. If that is true, then deleting the original might not delete the copy. Apple doesn't really provide an interface to manage those images.

I suspect that setting a phone up as new instead of syncing to a backup would leave those images behind.

 

[Tagbert]

I've just come across this problem and can't find a way to clear the suggested photo.

I periodically move all photos off my iPhone so the photo being suggested was removed months, if not years ago. It doesn't exist in the Photos app (I have like 6 photos, and nothing in deleted items). I've disabled featured photos, reset memories, and restarted the device... yet the photo remains as a suggestion. It's not even a saved wallpaper, nor do I remember ever creating one. It just shows up whenever I go into wallpaper customisation.

In my case, it's not a big deal, but it's more the principle. This is a privacy misstep by Apple IMO. There is no obvious way to remove the photo, and I don't even know if it's possible.

I think, when you chose a photo for wallpaper, it gets copied to a caching area so it can be retrieved quickly. If that is true, then deleting the original might not delete the copy. Apple doesn't really provide an interface to manage those images.

I suspect that setting a phone up as new instead of syncing to a backup would leave those images behind.

 

[itjustworks!]

I think, when you chose a photo for wallpaper, it gets copied to a caching area so it can be retrieved quickly. If that is true, then deleting the original might not delete the copy. Apple doesn't really provide an interface to manage those images.

I suspect that setting a phone up as new instead of syncing to a backup would leave those images behind.

Yes, I suspect that is the case. While that isn't necessarily out of the ordinary, there should be a way to purge any cached or suggested content. Fortunately, when I checked today, the image was actually no more. So it did disappear after taking one of the steps I mentioned previously, just after a delay. Could be clearer.