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            iOS 17.5.1 and iPadOS 17.5.1 Fix Photo Reappearance Bug

   Adam Engst

   Apple has quietly released[1] iOS 17.5.1 and[2] iPadOS 17.5.1 to
   address what it says is a 'rare issue where photos that experienced
   database corruption could reappear in the Photos library even if they
   were deleted.' Apple hasn't yet updated either set of release notes
   with the text in the screenshot below, and I would be surprised if the
   company offered any explanation.

   Reports of this problem surfaced on the Internet last week, with some
   people talking about[3] deleted photos reappearing and others saying
   they saw[4] blank photos. I don't know if there's an easy way to tell
   if you're affected'I certainly couldn't tell you if a few deleted
   photos reappeared in my library. (Look, Tonya's blinking in that one!)
   There's no way of knowing how widespread the problem is'the extent of
   database corruption across all iPhone and iPad owners would be
   impossible to quantify'but even a rare problem could impact many
   people.

   While the exact cause remains unknown, reports suggest Apple may have
   been attempting to fix a problem that caused photos to be lost if the
   iPhone crashed during upload and corrupted the database underneath the
   Photos library. In addressing the database corruption, iOS 17.5
   inadvertently brought back old images whose database entries had been
   deleted even as the original files remained on disk.

   Two questions:
     * Is there any connection to iCloud Photos here? Some people who have
       experienced the bug do not use iCloud Photos, so it's not required.
       However, it would be more troubling if deleted images were retained
       online instead of just locally.
     * What happens to the corrupted images after updating to iOS 17.5.1
       and iPadOS 17.5.1? Are they kept or deleted? There's no obvious
       correct answer here, so caution would suggest retaining the photos,
       preferably putting them in an album to be reevaluated.

   Regardless of the answers, I encourage everyone who has already moved
   to iOS 17.5 to install these updates in Settings > General > Software
   Update. What if you're still using iOS 17.4.1? That's a trickier
   question since you have no way of knowing if your Photos library is
   already suffering from database corruption. Personally, I would update.

References

   Visible links
   1. https://support.apple.com/118723
   2. https://support.apple.com/118702
   3. https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/1cryayx/latest_ios_update_has_brought_back_some_pictures/?sort=confidence
   4. https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/1ctagqu/blank_photos_showing_up_after_ios_175_update/

   Hidden links:
   5. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2024/05/iOS-17.5.1-scaled.jpg

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