Do you remember those embarrassing photos you deleted from your iPhone? iOS 17.5 does.
UPDATE: 2024/05/23 23:17 EST BY SIMON BATT
Researchers have figured out why iOS 17.5 keeps resurrecting deleted photos
Some spooky stories are sometimes left without a resolution, but fortunately, someone has worked out why iOS 17.5 kept bringing deleted photos back to life. Even better, it wasn’t something as scary as iCloud keeping remnants of deleted media, even if someone thought it was gone forever. As it turns out, one of the theories behind this weird behavior came true, as it was just iOS 17.5 “re-finding” deleted media that was still on the system.
The creepy iOS 17.5 bug has a not-so-creepy explanation
As spotted by
Bleeping Computer
, a post on the
Synactiv website
discusses why this bug happened in the first place. When we first reported this piece, we mentioned a Redditor who had a theory that the operating system was re-finding media that had been marked for deletion. Synactiv’s explanation seems to pair with this theory nicely after it looked through the code and discovered the cause of this weird bug:
Based on this code, we can say that the photos that reappeared were still lying around on the filesystems and that they were just found by the migration routine added in iOS 17.5. The reason why those files were there in the first place is unknown.
It’s common for files to be deleted to not fully go away; when you delete a file on your PC or phone, it simply hides it from your library and flags it for deletion, freeing up the space it once took up so that other files and programs can write to that section of memory. This is why file recovery apps can do what they do; they can find deleted files with this flag and un-flag it to bring it back again. However, why these old photos were still hanging around and not surrendering their space in memory is unknown. Hopefully, Apple will publish a fix soon.
Original article now follows.
Bugs in software are very common, but none are quite as spooky as the one that’s currently haunting iPhones running iOS 17.5. Users are reporting that photos they deleted long ago are reappearing for no observable reason. Worst of all, they always come back when deleted again, which makes those embarrassing images hard to get rid of for good.
iOS 17 review: The bubble is now greener on the other side
Apple is embracing its tight ecosystem with this release, further alienating Android users in the process.
iOS 17.5 is having a reappearing photo problem
Reports began coming in via Reddit after someone made a post on the iOS subreddit about the topic. Titled “Latest iOS update has brought back some pictures I deleted in 2021”, the thread goes into detail about photos magically reappearing despite being deleted:
Seeing old photos re-emerge from the depths is a creepy experience, and people chimed in with their own comments saying they experienced the same. However, others brought up another valid point; if these images were able to “come back to life,” does Apple actually delete images off of its servers when people ask it to? This spurned further stories about people re-finding data they thought they deleted long ago.
People are unsure as to why this is happening, but one user speculates that there’s a bug in erasing images where it doesn’t remove the data from storage; all it does is remove it from your library. The newest update then made the system “re-find” these deleted images, so they seemingly come back from the grave – however, they were never truly gone to begin with.
No matter what the actual cause is, be wary about old photos suddenly making a re-appearance on your iPhone. Deleting them won’t get rid of them, so this is a case for Apple to fix. Until then, perhaps be extra careful over who you allow to go through your album until this bug is fixed.
Alex Mitchell is your go-to expert for all things mobile. With a passion for the latest smartphones, apps, and mobile innovations, Alex provides in-depth reviews, insightful analyses, and breaking news about the ever-evolving world of mobile technology. Stay connected with Alex to navigate the fast-paced realm of mobile devices.
