Oh No! iOS 15 Bug Deleting Saved Photos in the Messages App

If you updated your iPhone’s software to iOS 15, you might be amongst the users experiencing a major bug in the iOS 15 Messages app that is causing saved photos to be deleted for good. It suddenly removes the photos that are in a message thread and not even iCloud can save them.

The glitch occurs when you save a photo from Messages to your camera roll but delete the thread from which the photo originated. Then, the next time an iCloud Backup is performed, the picture will be gone.

[ Update: Don’t Panic, iOS 15 Will NOT Delete ALL of Your Photos]

Most iOS users have enabled iCloud Backup on their iPhones. So, if you do tend to delete your messages regularly and already have iOS 15 installed, you might want to stop until there is a fix. However, if you tend to keep all of your messages, there is a good chance you won’t be affected.

It’s still unknown whether this applies to all photos in the message thread or if it only deletes the photos saved after installing iOS 15.

Here’s how to replicate the bug:

1. Save a photo from a Messages conversation to your Camera Roll.
2. Check to see that the photo has been saved.
3. Delete the Messages conversation that the photo came from. The photo will still be in your ?iCloud Photo Library? at this point.
4. Perform an ?iCloud? Backup, and the photo disappears.

Apple has yet to address the reports of the Messages app bug.