A bug in iOS 17.5 is causing a stir among users. After installing the update on the iPhone, a number of people are seeing photos they had previously deleted.
iOS 17.5 recently came out, but not everyone is happy with the software update. On Reddit, iPhone users are complaining that after the update, they are suddenly seeing photos from years ago, photos they had deleted on purpose.
So it could just be that that horrible photo with your ex suddenly reappears on your iPhone, even though you had deleted it years ago. Or even worse, that one NSFW photo, like one of the reporters of the problem.
Old deleted iPhone photos show up after iOS 17.5
Several users on Reddit are unpleasantly surprised to see past photos suddenly popping up on their iPhones after installing iOS 17.5. And no, they are not memories of past events that occasionally appear on the smartphone. They are photos that were really permanently deleted, at least, that’s what users thought.
For example, the topic starter on Reddit gives a particular example: “I just installed the update while talking to my partner. Suddenly NSFW photos popped up that I had permanently deleted in 2021. This also happened on my iPad.”
iOS 17.5 (Image: WANT/Lucas van de Wetering)
And the topic starter is not the only one. Multiple users report that old photos have reappeared on their iPhones even though they had previously been deleted. Perhaps less explicit examples, but just as striking.
For example, another user says six photos have appeared from different times. “Some of them I deleted in 2023.”
What’s going on?
It is unclear exactly why this is happening. Since some of the photos are from years ago, it can’t be that there happens to be a problem where recently deleted photos return.
Rather, it seems that there is an error syncing between the iPhone and iCloud. Perhaps that’s why the photos were deleted on the iPhone, but not in iCloud, for example. Apple previously had problems with this during iOS 17.3. Perhaps fixing that problem caused a new problem.
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So it doesn’t hurt to go through your photo library to check if that confrontational photo or snapshot with your ex has suddenly reappeared on your iPhone.
