WhatsApp does not work on iPhones worldwide, saving duplicate photos in the camera roll. If you’re running low on built-in storage, these duplicate images could push you over the limit — leaving your iPhone unable to take new photos or download apps.
If you receive a lot of photos, these unwanted duplicates could wreak havoc on your iCloud backup as well.
The bug affects those who have set WhatsApp to automatically save incoming photos to their iPhone camera roll. But instead of one version of the photo appearing in their library, many iPhone owners are now seeing double.
Some WhatsApp users have blamed the latest iteration of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 17.4, which was rolled out worldwide on March 5 and introduced some seismic changes.
However, as enraged iOS users flooded social media complaining about the WhatsApp bug, it became apparent that many who were suffering with the bug had not yet updated to iOS 17.4.
The same thing happens to me, I thought I was the only one. I have the option NOT to download, except with the woman’s chat where each photo is saved twice @Daniel_Rubino @tomwarren
— SuNcO (@sunco) March 9, 2024
It does @Apple and @What’s up Do you know that there is a problem with double downloading of photos on IOS devices?
— Pawan Kumar Singh (@sunkripawan) March 15, 2024
Geez, why does this phone save WhatsApp photos twice???? 🤬
— Mma B 🥹 (@LadyRasta_) March 13, 2024
Is there a problem with WhatsApp, I am receiving photos twice from all people!?? @What’s up
—Julie Shahin (@Bitonya) March 15, 2024
iPhone users have labeled the glitch “annoying” and “annoying” on support forums and social media platforms.
“Is there a problem with WhatsApp, I’m receiving photos twice from all the people!??” one user published on Xformerly Twitter.
Sharing my woes further Apple Community Support Forumone iPhone user posted: “On my iPhone, my WhatsApp is set to automatically save the photos I get to Photos. For me this worked fine, but a few days ago Photos started saving each photo twice. This means that now, if I receive one photo via WhatsApp and then I go to Photos, the same image will be doubled.”
Beetle It seems like exclusively for iPhone, with no Android users reporting the same glitch.
Meta, the parent company that owns WhatsApp, Facebook and Oculus, has acknowledged the problem and rolled out an update to fix the duplicate photos issue.
In a statement shared with the Suna Meta spokesperson said: “We are aware that a small number of iPhone users are experiencing problems receiving media where it is saved twice to their camera roll. We are rolling out a fix for customers and recommend that all those affected download the latest version of the app.”
To check if you have the latest version of WhatsApp on your iPhone, load the App Store and tap the circular account photo in the top right corner. This will show options for purchases, ongoing subscriptions, and notifications.
Scroll down and you’ll see a list of pending software updates. If there is a WhatsApp update which it is not still installed, it will wait in this list. Swipe down from the top to refresh the list.
Scroll down to the list of apps and tap Update everything.
Latest update for WhatsApp was split three days agoThe 5/24/75 version, which was released to patch another bug with photos in the messaging app, “Fixed an error when copying and pasting images,” says the notes posted with the update.
While you’re waiting for the latest bug fix update to hit the App Store, you can disable the auto-save feature on your iPhone to fix the problem. Open WhatsApp, then click Settings > Conversationsthen turn off the switch next to the highlighted setting Save to Camera Roll.
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging service on the planet, with more than 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. It is owned by the company Meta, which is run by the billionaire, co-founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.