Apple Releases iOS 17.5.1 With Fix for Reappearing Photos Bug

[incidentallycheckout]

This has been proven already by the fact people that who don't use the cloud have the bug.

Wait wait wait.

I've been told by multiple here that the report was made by 1 single reddit user who deleted their post and that nobody else had the issue.

 

[hans1972]

...

Using Apple devices (with maybe the exception of the Mac) without their cloud services, makes the experience so much worse.

It's going to be better to move to Windows and Android if you don't want to use iCloud.

 

[dfwiddoc]

You had 10 year old photos reappear? Were they deleted 10 years ago?

I don’t buy this for a second. This was reported by one user among millions running the firmware after months of beta testing. Proof is indicated on this one.

 

[Evelyn Harthbrooke]

Yeah but reports state some of these photos were years old… Apple has no excuse, it plainly IS keeping old deleted photos for years on its servers, to me that’s a breach of privacy. And Apple have basically admitted it with this patch.

No, no they are not. Apple states it was a database corruption bug, with regard to the local photos database. Has nothing to do with iCloud. Don’t assume things without knowing the whole story. This can happen. Corruption is rare but it does happen. However, Apple is NOT storing your deleted photos on their servers.

 

[CapitalIdea]

Incredible that they acknowledged the issue. Affirms the reports are true. They are trying to brush this under the rug. This is perhaps the most major privacy violation from  in their history. Someone correct me if wrong.

Apple: “Here’s a software patch for an odd software issue.”

Hot take: “eRmAgErD iT’s A cOvErUp By ThE dEeP sTaTe!!!!11!”

 

[morphineseason]

Whew boy. They really needed an accompanying press release with this one. This is a very concerning issue for a company who is always preaching user privacy and security.

 

[Queues]

Kinda crazy that they never even bothered to put out a statement about this.

 

[reyesmac]

Companies lie to you every day. In unrelated news, Apple is a company.

 

[Evelyn Harthbrooke]

Whew boy. They really needed an accompanying press release with this one. This is a very concerning issue for a company who is always preaching user privacy and security.

How exactly do you expect them to make a press release about a bug involving database corruption? Corruption has existed since the dawn of computing; it’s not a privacy matter but rather just a matter of how fragile technology can be at times.

 

[Andres Cantu]

This bug had nothing to do with their servers. This has been proven already by the fact people that who don't use the cloud have the bug. What people don't seem to understand is if you back up a corrupted database, and then restore the corrupted database it's still corrupted a database.

Apple then needs to elaborate more. Perception is reality. Be more transparent and as elaborate as possible.

 

[CapitalIdea]

No. Telling the user what happened and asking the user what should be done with those files would be a good thing.

You want them to individually ask the billion users?

 

[spazzcat]

Wait wait wait.

I've been told by multiple here that the report was made by 1 single reddit user who deleted their post and that nobody else had the issue.

No the story you are referring to is the one where someone claims the photos re-showed up on a device they sold to someone else. No one is claiming the bug isn't real just that one story was seeing how it was deleted right after it was deleted and there was no other source.

 

[hans1972]

You say it as if that is the truth. Even if we assume the Files apps is one way to cause the Photos to come back, is there any proof that no other ways the Photos are being stored? Did you audit Apple's source code to find out there are no other possible triggers of the bug?

If you don't trust the entity which designs (a lot of the) the phone's hardware, the firmware, the operating system and the software services used by the phone, it's time to look elsewhere.

So many here don't trust Apple at all and even dislike Apple, but still continues to buy their products and use their services. Strange behaviour.

 

[spazzcat]

Apple then needs to elaborate more. Perception is reality. Be more transparent and as elaborate as possible.

I already said this here but you most likely would not understand the technical details of this bug if you need more details then they already gave.

 

[stiligFox]

From what i read they were reloading from sent iMessages once iMessage synching was restored from the recent interruption.

Ahhhh that would make sense!

 

[CapitalIdea]

You have no idea what happened because you don't work for Apple in any capacity and your knowledge of the situation is entirely based on what you just made up in your mind. Your explanation is also ridiculous and doesn't align with any explanation given anywhere on the internet except the comment you just made. It's also wrong.

Prove it wrong. And the minute you send a photo in iMessage it’s part of that app as well and shows up in that history, so please show us your database expertise and explain how it should function otherwise?

 

[forced-to-have-a-username]

NSA and CIA are not happy that Tim Apple leaked it lol

 

[Evelyn Harthbrooke]

I'm honestly shocked by all the people downvoting people for expressing their concerns here. Photos shouldn't be "reappearing." This isn't just a bug issue—this is a severe breach of privacy. It highlights a massive concern that our photos aren't actually being deleted when we delete them. A bug doesn't keep deleted photos around for years ... it exposed that Apple is still storing our supposedly deleted photos on their cloud servers.

No, no they are not. It has happened to people who don’t even use iCloud Photos. It’s a database corruption bug. I’m not going to repeat what I said again, but please read my earlier posts in this thread. Apple is not somehow disrespecting your privacy nor are they keeping your deleted photos on their servers.

 

[fhall1]

You had 10 year old photos reappear? Were they 10 year old photos you deleted 10 years ago, or did you have 10 year old photos you more recently deleted (say, within the last 5 or so years) reappear?

So - it's bad if a photo deleted 10 years ago showed up, but it's ok if a photo deleted 5 years ago does?

 

[1984]

So they admitted to it. Funny cause people who would defend Apple for literally anything were saying it was made up. They claimed the reddit user deleting their post proved it was fake.

No. The Reddit user said that they were showing up on iPhones that had been wiped and sold to strangers. That’s not what’s happening. The photos are showing up on iPhones that people still own and still have associated with their Apple ID.

 

[BigGongZillaSkrillex]

You say it as if that is the truth. Even if we assume the Files apps is one way to cause the Photos to come back, is there any proof that no other ways the Photos are being stored? Did you audit Apple's source code to find out there are no other possible triggers of the bug?

Well in that case, I can assume that there are millions of possibilities then, if I fear for it like you do. It's already been explained and it's very clear to understand too. If you fear for it then buy another phone.

 

[haginile]

Can someone tell me what this update actually achieves? I still have all of these “iPhoto Events,” some of which dating back to 2012, on my iPhone after upgrading to this update... There’s even a “Sep 2013 Photo Stream."

 

[nottorp]

If you don't trust the entity which designs (a lot of the) the phone's hardware, the firmware, the operating system and the software services used by the phone, it's time to look elsewhere.

So many here don't trust Apple at all and even dislike Apple, but still continues to buy their products and use their services. Strange behaviour.

Heh. What's the alternative, Android?

Repeat after me: duopoly. Apple is just the option that sucks less.

 

[cbns]

Deletion normally just removes the file index until the space is needed, so the bug restored those orphaned files. Overwriting every deleted byte before it is required for other data would cause unnecessary writes and shorten the lifespan of the volatile storage.

an exception should be made for photos

 

[neuropsychguy]

So - it's bad if a photo deleted 10 years ago showed up, but it's ok if a photo deleted 5 years ago does?

No, I'm asking the commenter for clarification. If the commenter deleted a photo 10 years ago, that predates the Files app, which there is some speculation is linked to the issue. I'm not saying that's the issue -- I really have no idea -- but if the Files app is playing a role, there might be a difference between photos deleted 10 years ago and 10 year old photos being deleted since 2017 (e.g., 5 years ago).