iOS 18’s redesigned Photos app will gain a Recovered album to help you restore damaged photos or videos. It will only show up when the app detects corrupted media not in your photo library.
The new Recovered album will appear under the Utilities section of the Photos app.
iOS 18 will help you recover corrupted images and videos
While not common, you can lose photos or videos from your iPhone due to database corruption. It also can happen when using third-party apps that do not have access to the photo library. To prevent the loss of such content, Apple plans to introduce the Recovered album in the Photos app.
The app will scan your iPhone automatically for damaged photos and videos that can be recovered. Only then will the Recovered album appear in the Utilities section of the Photos app. Apple says your iPhone will scan for corrupted media files when you upgrade to iOS 18.
If the app finds corrupted media, you can either recover the damaged files from the Recovered album or delete them permanently. There does not appear to be a way to initiate a manual scan. Like the Recently Deleted album, you must confirm your identity using Face ID or Touch ID to get into the Recovered folder.
In addition to the iPhone, the feature is also coming to the iPad and Mac with iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia.
iOS 17.5 bug caused photo database corruption for some
Apple may be adding this feature to iOS 18 after the iOS 17.5 update corrupted the photo databases of some iPhone users. This caused them to see pictures and videos they deleted years or months ago. The company eventually fixed the bug with iOS 17.5.1.
With iOS 18, the Photos app will receive a major revamp. The new full-screen design puts your photos and videos in the center. While the new look might appear impressive initially, Cult of Mac’s Griffin Jones thinks the new Photos app needs some major tweaks.
