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iOS 15 Messages Bug Causes Saved Photos to Be Deleted

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A serious bug in the iOS 15 Messages app can cause some saved photos to be deleted, according to multiple complaints we've heard from MacRumors readers and Twitter users.

iOs-15-Photos-Feature.jpg

If you save a photo from a Messages thread and then go on to delete that thread, the next time an iCloud Backup is performed, the photo will disappear.

Even though the image is saved to your personal iCloud Photo Library, it appears to still be linked to the Messages app in iOS 15, and saving it does not persist through the deletion of the thread and an iCloud backup.

To replicate this bug, the following steps must be taken:
  1. Save a photo from a Messages conversation to your Camera Roll.
  2. Check to see that the photo has been saved.
  3. Delete the Messages conversation the photo came from. The photo will still be in your iCloud Photo Library at this point.
  4. Perform an iCloud Backup, and the photo disappears.
This is a concern because most users keep the iCloud Backup feature enabled and it's something that happens automatically. If you're someone who regularly deletes message threads, if there's a photo that you want to keep, you won't be able to keep it with iCloud Backup turned on. We tested this bug on an iPhone running iOS 15.1 beta 2 and had our photo deleted after deleting the Messages thread and performing an iCloud Backup, so the issue has not been addressed in the current beta as of yet.


Until this bug is fixed, if you've downloaded photos from the Messages app, you'll want to make sure to keep those Messages conversations and not delete them to prevent them from being automatically removed from your devices.

(Thanks, Chad!)

Article Link: iOS 15 Messages Bug Causes Saved Photos to Be Deleted
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/09/29/ios-15-messages-bug-deleting-photos/
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iOS 15 needs polishing up asap in my opinion. It's not unexpected for the initial release to have bugs of course, but iOS 15 is particularly buggy and unpolished in my experience of it so far.

It's issues such as this, which could very easily happen to anyone and are easily reproduced, that make you wonder if the software devs actually use their own software on their personal devices.

This cross with the bodged implementation of Widgets on iPad OS, and Safari 15's questionable design choices make me inclined to steer clear of Monterey when it releases.
 
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And this is why I’m looking hard for better photo storage solutions. I appreciate the serious integration apple has with their ecosystem but I do not trust it to save my photos, and then it’s painful for sharing with family members. I have only 6000 photos, and I know I’m not even close to a power user! Just a new dad with lots of family pics that are very important to me.
 
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I have been dealing with a weird upgrade from my 12 Pro 256 to my 13 Pro 256 (iUP).
I did the device-to-device transfer, my 13 has ~229/256 GB remaining. On the 12, I had about ~185/256. So that 50 GB delta ha due curious. In digging, it appeared the Messages data on my 12 was ~15GB. On the 13, it was ~44 GB. WTF?
Several calls with Apple support yielded my next step: Reset and restore from my last 12 backup (something I look to get to tomorrow. ANYWAY...
Yesterday, I was saving some images from Messages on my 13, and they were no showing up in my Photos. So I ended up sending them to myself via email. Which is to say, I am seeing some issue with Messages and images, for sure.


Edit: meant to add... One Apple support rep told me "that's just how the 13 allocates memory now." Ummm, what???
Also, had I known, I would have preordered a 512. On my 12 Pro, 256 was just fine.

Edit #2: this camera bump is HUGE! The lenses protrude shockingly far. My Apple silicon case helps, a lot. But naked... Insane.
 
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I wonder if this is connected to the "Shared With You" feature.

I turned that off as soon as I could, but Photos saved from Messages still say who they are from and "Shared with you" when you swipe up to show details.

Now I have to find the dozen or so photos I've saved since upgrading and make sure I have a separate copy of them until this is fixed. This is ridiculous.
 
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lazyrighteye said:
I have been dealing with a weird upgrade from my 12 Pro 256 to my 13 Pro 256 (iUP).
I did the device-to-device transfer, my 13 has ~229/256 GB remaining. On the 12, I had about ~185/256. So that 50 GB delta ha due curious. In digging, it appeared the Messages data on my 12 was ~15GB. On the 13, it was ~44 GB. WTF?
Several calls with Apple support yielded my next step: Reset and restore from my last 12 backup (something I look to get to tomorrow. ANYWAY...
Yesterday, I was saving some images from Messages on my 13, and they were no showing up in my Photos. So I ended up sending them to myself via email. Which is to say, I am seeing some issue with Messages and images, for sure.


Edit: meant to add... One Apple support rep told me "that's just how the 13 allocates memory now." Ummm, what???
Also, had I known, I would have preordered a 512. On my 12 Pro, 256 was just fine.

Edit #2: this camera but is HUGE! The lenses protrude shockingly far. My Apple silicon case helps, a lot. But naked... Insane.
Click to expand...
Whoa. I just noticed that now that you pointed it out. I literally was using less than half of my 256gb on my 12 pro max, to the point where I almost downgraded but then decided to keep it at 256gb. According to my iPhone right now, I only have 25gb of free space. What??? How is that even remotely possible. Something is screwy somewhere.
 
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What in the world are y’all talking about? Apple just introduced the “most pro iPhones we’ve ever produced,” and iOS 15 allows you, “to do more with iPhone than ever before.” It is simply not possible for iOS 15 to cause things that used to work to not work because Apple says iOS 15 is the most powerful, most advanced iOS they have ever released.
 
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goonie4life9 said:
What in the world are y’all talking about? Apple just introduced the “most pro iPhones we’ve ever produced,” and iOS 15 allows you, “to do more with iPhone than ever before.” It is simply not possible for iOS 15 to cause things that used to work to not work because Apple says iOS 15 is the most powerful, most advanced iOS they have ever released.
Click to expand...
Does "do more than ever before" include doing all of these problems reported lately, like this bug?
 
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