Shortly after the release of iOS 17.5 last week, some users began noticing that some (but not all) photos they had previously deleted were starting to reappear in their photo libraries. Some of the photos were quite old and there weren’t any. any rhyme or reason as to which images would be affected; some reported photos sent via Messages, others did not.
There was speculation that Apple could potentially keep photos they claimed to have deleted, among other accusations.
The mystery now appears to be solved and solved with iOS 17.5.1. The release notes are as follows:
This update provides 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.
When you “delete” a file in iOS (and most other operating systems), it is not actually erased. Instead, a file management system marks this storage area as empty and available for later use. But technically the data is still there until it is overwritten by new data, which is how some specialized forensic software can recover “deleted” data from hard drives and SSDs.
Apple therefore did not keep deleted photos or messages in iCloud beyond the 30-day restoration period. Instead, some images marked as deleted but not yet overwritten with new data have had their database entries corrupted so that your iPhone or iPad shows them again in your Photos albums.
The iOS 17.5.1 update fixes this bug. The patch notes don’t list any other changes.
How to update to iOS 17.5.1
To update your iPhone:
- Open Settings
- Select General
- Select Software update
- Follow the instructions on the screen
