Apple says iOS 17.5.1 fixes 'rare' bug that caused deleted photos to come back

Apple has released iOS 17.5.1 for iPhone. The software update specifically addresses the issue of deleted photos reportedly returning after updating to iOS 17.5.

While this bug is certainly alarming, it's important to note that Apple does not have access to your photos and video. According to Apple, the problem occurred because a small number of photos were affected by a corrupted database entry, preventing the photo from being completely removed from the device.

Apple reports that the update Fixes the issue

Apple directly acknowledges the issue with the deleted photo that we reported last week in the release notes:

This update contains important bug fixes and resolves a rare issue where photos whose database was corrupted could reappear in the Photos Library even if they were deleted.

No, Apple does not keep deleted photos secretly

Although some wonder if that means that Apple is saving our deleted photos, an explanation of what actually happened is offered in the release notes. Apple is clearly embarrassed by this error as it does not meet their privacy requirements. However, this behavior was not intended.

Instead, Apple appears to describe the fix as restoring the database's processing mechanisms, ensuring the accuracy of deletion records in the Photo Library to prevent previously deleted photos from reappearing. .

Deleting photos works like this: Photos are deleted by the user, moved to the Recently Deleted album, and actually deleted after 30 days. Photos can be manually deleted and permanently deleted before 30 days by deleting the images from the Recently Deleted album.

What actually actually happened

So, if Apple doesn't keep your deleted photos secret, how could this happen? First, the error occurred on the device and had nothing to do with iCloud. The following describes how files are usually deleted.

Best comment from BigGongZillaSkrillex

Liked by 8 people

This is a bug related to the Files app. Everyone, relax.

How do deleted photos now “appear” again after being deleted? This is because almost every instance of this incident that Apple has investigated was caused by deleting photos from the Photos app, NOT from the Files app. These are two separate apps with two copies of photos.

When you download, share/receive, or take a screenshot (mostly Safari screenshots) on your iPhone, it will sometimes (depending on various factors) be saved as in both the Files app and the Photos app.

Now, when you go to delete the said photos from the Photos app, an identical copy of them is still present in the Files app, so it looks like it was deleted from the Photos app.

But from -due to a rare bug in iOS 17.5, the system tries to resave all photos/media/files from the Files app to the Photos app. This happens during the reindexing process that happens when you update your iPhone. Since the Photos app can't display files but can display media/photos, it looks like your “deleted” photos have reappeared EVEN THOUGH they were on your iPhone in the Files app the whole time.

As for photos reappearing after resetting the device, Apple has not investigated ANY CASES OF THIS. It's a myth: Your Apple devices are safe.

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Files in NAND storage are not actually deleted when you issue the delete command; instead, the space they occupy is marked as available for future use. The actual data remains intact until new data is written over it, so specialized software can often recover “deleted” files.

However, this should not cause the deleted photo to reappear in library of photographs. In this case, Apple points to a rare issue caused by a corrupted database that caused some photos to not be completely deleted as expected. However, the issue was never widespread and has been resolved in iOS 17.5.1.

The first bug fix in iOS 17.5

The update comes a week after iOS 17.5 became available. iOS 17.5 includes new games for News+ subscribers, Pride 2024 wallpapers, cross-platform tracking detection and other changes to comply with the EU Digital Markets Act.