←back to thread

Apple Photos app corrupts images

(tenderlovemaking.com)
1133 points pattyj | 10 comments | 17 Sep 25 11:07 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
Show context
deviation ◴[17 Sep 25 11:47 UTC] No.45274615[source]▶
It seems to be an import pipeline bug.

Photos does a lot of extra work on import (merging RAW+JPEG pairs, generating previews, database indexing, optional deletion), so my guess is a concurrency bug where a buffer gets reused or a file handle is closed before the copy finishes.

Rare, nondeterministic corruption fits the profile.

replies(7): >>45274840 #>>45275400 #>>45275556 #>>45275634 #>>45277188 #>>45278171 #>>45280431 #
tenderlove ◴[17 Sep 25 12:08 UTC] No.45274840[source]▶
This is also my guess. It's really a bummer, and I'd report it to Apple but since it's nondeterministic I have no idea how to provide repro steps.
replies(8): >>45275065 #>>45275163 #>>45276096 #>>45276185 #>>45276696 #>>45277780 #>>45279586 #>>45281857 #
1. ValentineC ◴[17 Sep 25 14:14 UTC] No.45276096[source]▶
What's worse about the Apple ecosystem is that because of how tightly coupled it is, a bug fix for Photos would only come as part of a macOS update.

Which means that if that bug has been present since the (now unsupported) Mavericks, tough luck!

replies(2): >>45276258 #>>45276880 #
2. JKCalhoun ◴[17 Sep 25 14:28 UTC] No.45276258[source]▶
MacOS updates are several per year though. If a fixes found (and the bug considered a high enough priority) it could show up before 2025 is up.
replies(2): >>45279967 #>>45283195 #
3. thewebguyd ◴[17 Sep 25 15:17 UTC] No.45276880[source]▶
I still don't under stand why Apple limits updates to their first party apps to OS updates.

They could really benefit from how Google does it on Android and decouple it. Push updates to their first party apps via the app store like everyone else, and let the OS update on its own separate schedule.

replies(3): >>45277818 #>>45281445 #>>45282127 #
4. ValentineC ◴[17 Sep 25 16:20 UTC] No.45277818[source]▶
They somehow separate out certain apps, like Safari (on occasion), the iWork suite, and the Pro apps, but I have no idea why they insist on coupling apps like Photos and Music to OS updates.
replies(1): >>45280924 #
5. conductr ◴[17 Sep 25 19:00 UTC] No.45279967[source]▶
It’s a way to force you to update those apps. They don’t want you on the latest OS and on an old Music or Photos.
replies(1): >>45289102 #
6. TomaszZielinski ◴[17 Sep 25 20:21 UTC] No.45280924{3}[source]▶
Safari is interesting. It's been separate, except for major macOS updates, which had it bundled. But if you had a newer Safari on an older macOS, and upgraded macOS to anything else that the latest version, then your Safari was downgraded, often causing data loss..

In Sonoma or Sequoia they started bundling all Safari updates with macOS, but right now Safari 26 appeared as a separate update in Sonoma/Sequoia—-and it will likely stay that way.

Each thing separately can be explained, but when put together it’s somewhat messy..

7. novok ◴[17 Sep 25 21:11 UTC] No.45281445[source]▶
A lot of them are also the library surface for a lot of internal foundational libraries. Photos is also PhotoKit, similarly with email. It's essentially over coupled.
8. dlcarrier ◴[17 Sep 25 22:22 UTC] No.45282127[source]▶
Google used to keep it coupled on Chrome OS, and older Chromebooks can only run insecure versions of Chrome.
9. Gigachad ◴[18 Sep 25 00:17 UTC] No.45283195[source]▶
It’s more a problem for Macs not supported with OS updates like the 2019 13” models right now.
10. ValentineC ◴[18 Sep 25 13:00 UTC] No.45289102{3}[source]▶
Sure, but I want to be on an older macOS and be given the option to use the latest Music or Photos.

For example, I'm probably not going to be upgrading to Tahoe until Sequoia's close to end of support life. I just upgraded to Sequoia last month from Ventura (decided to skip Sonoma since the various anecdotes of Sequoia made it sound like Sonoma-with-AI, with few apps breaking because of some new API change).