iOS 15 has an annoying Messages bug that’s deleting saved images

iOS 15 has only been out for the public for a couple of weeks, and already it has some annoying bugs. The latest involves certain types of saved photos, which can be deleted completely in some circumstances.

Readers of MacRumors and assorted Twitter users have all reported the same bug, which causes iOS 15 to delete images that were saved from a Messages conversation if the Messages conversation is deleted.

Yes, somehow once you save an image to your iCloud Photo Library, it’s still linked to your Messages so gets deleted.

You can reliably trigger this bug by following these steps, although we don’t know why you’d want to intentionally delete your images:

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1. Find any image inside a Messages conversation thread and save it to the Camera Roll
2. Go into Camera Roll to see the saved image
3. Delete the Messages conversation thread containing the original image
4. Do an iCloud Backup
5. Notice that the image is no longer in your Camera Roll

With many users having automatic iCloud Backup set up, that means automatic image deletions. Until Apple fixes this issue, don’t delete any Messages threads that you might have saved images from. You’ll probably lose the image if you do, and you saved it for a reason in the first place.

Apple should be aware of the issue by now, so hopefully, it’s only a short wait until they release a software update that fixes it. It’s confirmed not fixed in iOS 15.1 beta 2.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere. His hobbies include photography, animation, and hoarding Reddit gold.