iOS 17.5 Bug May Also Resurface Deleted Photos on Wiped, Sold Devices [Updated]

[macrlz9]

Yeahhh I don’t believe this for a second. But the media sure will run wild with this story.
Definitely should not be worded as fact when there is no proof and 1 case.

 

[jarman92]

Then I expect apple to sue that Reddit user. If not apple knows they're in the wrong.

Lol that's a ridiculous statement. Apple would never (and should never) stoop so low as to sue a single Reddit user. Nor would it be likely to win.

 

[fockx]

I contacted Apple because apparently some apps could have access to my camera roll, microphone and camera even though I didn’t grant access in the privacy settings.

They played dumb telling me they don’t understand what I meant.

Then they ignored my messages. After I re-messaged them, they played dumb again, presumable not knowing what I mean.

I’ve said it often and I will repeat it. Apple is more and more of a trash company.

Low quality products and garbage software. That’s what Apple stands for these days.

Who tells us, in this world of global fights for power and influence, that Apple isn’t tracking us far deeper than they admit, with who knows what plans in mind?

The personal data about each of us a company such as Apple can amass is monstrous.

What if our devices record us and in the future you’ll just be able to buy this **** somewhere and take individual people down?

Look at movies, there is a high demand for dystopian films, many people like to be dystopian. It’s the philosophy and aesthetic of many. Google removed its "don’t be evil" motto.

A new generation of criminals, the first global digital criminals, might be on its way.

Look at how crazy Elon Musk is also. Or remember the scandals around Zuckerberg. A new generation of completely insane and unpredictable digital dictators seems to come to power.

Who knows what our Apple devices can really do. The design and the nice feeling of the material under our hands is just what we’re sold on. The actual thing with its actual functions is behind that but nobody really knows what it does, we can only trust it.

Remember when you could type in "bra" in your camera roll or something like that and it would show all cleavage photos or so? It was a glitch that showed what was happening behind the friendly user interface, the iPhone was collecting infos on what was seen in the photos and making categories without anyone knowing. Apple never mentioned it was doing this. When people found out due to a bug like in this new case here, Apple started finding excuses.

Democracy is in serious danger and it’s being fired at from all sides. I believe that Apple too might be firing at Democracy. We can still save it, though. It’s our most valuable asset and our global competitive advantage. Dictators from all over the world want to take it from us for exactly this reason.

Sir, this is a Wendy's.

 

[yustas]

I did not contact Apple. I just changed my password and logged off on all device. Weirdly the device did not show on the devices page on Apple ID setting. It only appeared in Find My. So I just deleted that MacBook from find my device list.

Apple's iCloud has been notoriously glitchy from its inception. They should wipe it and start fresh with a modern code base instead of trying to patch an old code that I bet nobody at Apple truly knows what is going on there.

 

[jarman92]

What does that mean? When I picked up my new iPad and turned in the old one (at an Apple Store) the only thing they had me do was turn off find my. I didn’t log out of anything on the old device. Once the new device was set up and everything was there then they had me wipe the old device.

That's fine. If you don't disable Activation Lock on the old device before wiping it you can just delete it after the fact from Find My to achieve the same thing.

 

[SmugMaverick]

Yeahhh I don’t believe this for a second. But the media sure will run wild with this story.
Definitely should not be worded as fact when there is no proof and 1 case.

Copium.

Anyway, as I said in the other thread, I’m out and I hope many others do the same.

This is Mickey Mouse levels of amateur hour and nasty deception.

I pray people clock on to the fact apples marketing is utter lies and bull.

 

[mystery hill]

That's fine. If you don't disable Activation Lock on the old device before wiping it you can just delete it after the fact from Find My to achieve the same thing.

Find my, and Activation Lock, is disabled when a device is erased.

 

[iBreatheApple]

How is this possible while also not meaning that everything you’ve ever deleted still exists somewhere. I don’t understand.

 

[KKramer]

This is great news for users like me, who lost quite a few photos due to the bug in Photos iCloud sync.

Hopefully some of lost photos will turn up now!​

 

[Silly John Fatty]

What’s definitive is that (not just in apples case but in software in general), we will see such things happen more and more often. We will use more and more technology and thus, more and more stuff like this will happen. Software development is becoming cheaper and cheaper and anyone can access it, anyone can make an app these days, and things like that will increase.

 

[D1G1TALR0B0T]

I did not contact Apple. I just changed my password and logged off on all device. Weirdly the device did not show on the devices page on Apple ID setting. It only appeared in Find My. So I just deleted that MacBook from find my device list.

It‘s really not good that it appeared with a different name and location. Hopefully Apple are aware of these issues and will fix them soon.

 

[The Barron]

Ok, Apple - Time to get a fix out and pronto!

 

[coolfactor]

I don't believe it. One Reddit user? Come on, people, calm down. How can we trust that he actually knew what he was doing when he reset the iPad?

 

[MyOwnDrummer]

I just read their post on Reddit. They wiped the device. Never logged into it again. Gave/sold it to a friend. Sure they could be making the whole thing up but for what reason?

People make up sick crap all the time on the internet, just to feel a sense of value and personal validation for a moment. It’s a vile thing, but a lot more common than many realize.

 

[coolfactor]

Then I expect apple to sue that Reddit user. If not apple knows they're in the wrong.

Should Apple sue every media outlet for spreading this fake story?

 

[Saturn007]

1 person?!

There is a thread here in which several (many?) have chimed in saying it happened to them. (Follow-up with a correction. What may be only an N of 1 was about photos reappearing after wiping and selling the device. The MR thread here was about old deleted photos resurfacing on one's own device. Big difference.)

N of 1, I don't believe. A fair number of MR commenters, I’m inclined to believe.

If it were only 1 person, and tech journals and websites are running the story without due diligence — i.e., with a reckless disregard of the truth — Apple would have grounds to sue them for libel!

Might even force several of our favorite tech hangouts into bankruptcy…

 

[mystery hill]

I don't believe it. One Reddit user? Come on, people, calm down. How can we trust that he actually knew what he was doing when he reset the iPad?

You don’t have to believe that it happened, but there have been issues like this that been reported in the past with users seeing strangers’ photos in their library.

If the Reddit user didn’t correctly erase the iPad, then all of their existing photos and data would have remained, and not suddenly appear after updating to iOS 17.5.

 

[thecombatwombat]

I just read their post on Reddit. They wiped the device. Never logged into it again. Gave/sold it to a friend. Sure they could be making the whole thing up but for what reason?

I'm not suggesting they're making it up. Like I said, just one explanation there why they could be mistaken.

It happens all the time. My mom once freaked out for days because her Apple TV was showing notifications about her Apple ID. We eventually figured out what was really going on, the show she was streaming, was literally just a capture of someone's mac desktop, and she was seeing the alerts from the producer/techs/whatever's account. But she wasn't lying.

I laid out at least one way they could be similarly mistaken.

 

[Sippincider]

Don't see how photos could possibly reappear on a wiped and reset device.
But if they are... catastrophic to existential for Apple.

Hope whoever claimed this has facts to back them up, and if it's a hoax that Apple pursues them to the FULL extent.

And it if's real, that Apple publicly owns it and issues a fix immediately.

 

[ThailandToo]

Just thinking about something that happened to me last week. I got a notification that an old device I deleted from iCloud, erased and sold was getting my iMessages. I just looked, and It is now showing up in my iCloud list of devices.

I also bought a MBP and returned it to Apple. I obviously deleted/erased it. And it now shows up in my iCloud list of devices also! And I bought AppleCare on it and when I checked it shows that it was sold on April 5, 2024. I bought it and returned it in December 2023!

This may go way deeper than photos.

 

[thecombatwombat]

You don’t have to believe that it happened, but there have been issues like this that been reported in the past with users seeing strangers’ photos in their library.

If the Reddit user didn’t correctly erase the iPad, then all of their existing photos and data would have remained, and not suddenly appear after updating to iOS 17.5.

I don't know, I'd still give at least 50/50 odds the user is just mistaken, but what I'm starting to bet happened goes like this:

The files aren't actually reappearing from iCloud. It's the copies of the files that were deleted on the device are being recovered, and sent back to iCloud. Especially if the user just reset rather than erase the device, they still present the two options right next to each other and they both reboot the device and seem to have worked more or less the same, someone else's files could very well get restored by the same bug.

It would still be a very egregious, pretty far fetched bug. I certainly assume all new encryption keys encrypt all user data, even any sort of trash folder, after you reset a device, but that is, 100%, an assumption . . .

If it happens even after a full erase, then it really is a disastrous, insanely embarrassing bug.

 

[jeremz1ne]

Id love some of my iPhone 4 photos to reappear....

 

[Nik]

My iPhone 3GS reappeared in the Find My app recently, which I find a bit strange to say the least. I cannot locate it though, I sold it a long time ago.

 

[unobtainium]

If this is true and found to be done to others - this will be catastrophic.

Think of all the iPhones, iPads, etc you’ve had over the years and seemingly any of them that can update to iOS 17.5, could experience this.

Deleted showing up on my devices is one thing (though concerns about how they are coming back exist) - but on devices I no longer own and have sold, etc? Far more worrisome.

Devices, especially secondhand, can easily be given to kids, seniors, etc. and now someone’s NSFW photos could be in their devices, despite that person having sold the device a year or two ago? This is VERY bad, if true.

lol forget NSFW photos - that’s just embarrassing. How about the photos I’ve taken of my passport? My IDs (for verification on trading platforms, for example)? What other data could pop up? iCloud Keychain passwords? Talk about disastrous…

What I don’t understand is how this is even possible.

 

[mystery hill]

Especially if the user just reset rather than erase the device, they still present the two options right next to each other and they both reboot the device and seem to have worked more or less the same, someone else's files could very well get restored by the same bug.

If they had chosen ‘Reset All Settings’ then everything on their device would have remained in place. It’s unlikely that they would have chosen this option because it would be obvious that the device hasn’t been wiped.

Erasing a device deletes the encryption keys, removing all personal data, and signs out of the Apple account, and disables Activation Lock.

If the Reddit user is to be believed, then I think it’s most likely that the iPad is downloading photos from the iCloud library of an account that it was previously linked to.