Apple iOS 15.0.2 Addresses Major iPhone Photo Fail And Squashes These Annoying Bugs
A couple weeks ago, we wrote about a potentially frustrating iOS 15 messaging bug that could permanently delete precious photos saved to your iPhone, in certain circumstances. This was even present on the iOS 15.1 beta 2 build, which made us nervous that a fix might still be a bit off in the distance. Fortunately, that didn't end up being the case. Apple said it has addressed the issue in its latest iOS 15.0.1 update.
If you own an iPhone device, you can download the update right now—just head to Settings > General > Software Update and it should appear. We checked on an iPhone XS Max and, on that device, it showed up as a 500.1MB download. So depending on how fast or slow your internet connection might be, it could take a little bit or a long while.
As to the messaging bug, it was previously discovered that when saving a photo from a text message thread to the iPhone's camera roll, and then deleting the text message thread, the photo would disappear from the camera roll as well after performing an iCloud backup.
For some quirky reason, the photo stayed linked to the text messaging thread. In order to avoid losing photos in such a manner, iPhone users either needed to refrain from wiping out text threads that they originated from, or avoid backing up via iCloud, which on many devices runs automatically.
Alternatively, they could also transfer their pictures and videos to Google Photos or someplace else, or take a screenshot of the photo. All of these are workarounds that shouldn't be necessary, though.
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Now it is no longer an issue, according to the release notes for iOS 15.0.2. Th photo deletion bug is the very first issue mentioned in the list of fixes. Here's the full list...
- This update includes bug fixes for your iPhone: Photos saved to your library from Messages could be deleted after removing the associated thread or message
- iPhone Leather Wallet with MagSafe may not connect to Find My
- AirTag might not appear in the Find My Items tab
- CarPlay may fail to open audio apps or disconnect during playback
- Device restore or update may fail when using Finder or iTunes for iPhone 13 models
Note that the messaging bug also affects iPad device, and is subsequently squashed in iPadOS 15.0.2, which is also out now. In addition, the latest iPadOS release also fixes the same AirTag issue outlined above, as well as failed device restores and updates when using Finder or iTunes for iPad mini (6th generation).
In addition to these bug fixes, Apple patched a security vulnerability affecting both iPhone and iPad devices, which could otherwise allow an application to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Apple says it is aware of a report that the vulnerability may have been actively exploited. So, you should probably update sooner than later.
