On May 16, news came in that Apple’s latest iOS 17.5 update is causing embarrassment for users as long-deleted photos, including raunchy nudes, are reappearing on devices. Many Apple users complained about seeing deleted photos from their devices after OS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5.
Apple released iOS 17.5.1, an emergency update to fix a bug that caused deleted photos to reappear on iPhones. The new update can also provide you with additional security safeguards, new device settings and new Apple News, Podcasts, and notifications features.
Apple explained further, “This update provides important bug fixes and addresses a rare issue where photos that experienced database corruption could reappear in the Photos library even if they were deleted.”
Debugging the ‘Bug’ in Apple
The New York Post reported that on Tuesday Apple advised all iPhone users to immediately download the update, which was released on Monday, rather than waiting for the update to work out its bugs. Just immediately after these, mishaps began to happen.
“I went to send a picture and saw that the latest pictures were NSFW material we’d made years ago when we were living apart. It was permanently deleted years ago, but magically it’s back?? I checked my iPad and it also has pictures (some artwork I did years ago). I feel so uncomfortable. Anyone else got this issue? I mean with pictures coming back post update?” @Specialist-Fix8528 wrote.
In the same thread, “Same here. I have four pics from 2010 that keep reappearing as the latest pics uploaded to iCloud. I have deleted them repeatedly,” @1Dunya wrote.
Industry reacts
Furthermore, “The photos that did not fully delete from a user’s device were not synced to iCloud Photos. Those files were only on the device itself. However, the files could have persisted from one device to another when restoring from a backup, performing a device-to-device transfer, or when restoring from an iCloud Backup but not using iCloud Photos,” Apple highlighted.
It seems like Apple confirms that the claim made by a Reddit user that photos were reappearing on an iPad they’d sold on were false. Reportedly, the post might have since been deleted.
Killing the ‘Bug’
Apple mentions that the bug doesn’t affect a lot of users, but those who are impacted should update to iOS 17.5.1 urgently.
“Once you’ve done so, you’ll also need to manually delete the photos that have reappeared. Unfortunately the photos will stay in the recently deleted album in the Photos app for 30 days—unless you choose “Delete from all Devices.” To update to iOS 17.5.1 go to Settings > General > Software Update and download and install it now,” Apple explained.
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