Level 1

38 points

Since iOS 13 update. . JPG problem. Cannot Load Photo. There was an error loading this photo

I upgraded to iOS 13 and now if I try to edit photos which I've uploaded from my PC to iPhone via iCloud, I get an error saying "Cannot Load Photo. There was an error loading this photo".

I can view the photos fine but if I try to upload the photo to Instagram I get this message "Could not open photo. Please try again in a moment."

Photos that have been taken on my iPhone are fine. I can edit those as I've normally done. There are instances though which I need to upload images which were not taken with my iPhone.

I can reproduce the steps.

1. I've uploaded a photo to iCloud on the Desktop.

2. I go into my iPhone or iPad and in the Photo App press edit.

The message says - "Cannot Load Photo "- I cannot edit my photo in the Photo's own App.

3. I try to load it into Instagram to edit and get the error message - "Could not open photo. Please try again in a moment".

4. I then try another tactic.

I open the Snapseed App and load the same photo into Snapseed and I receive a message saying - "This image is read-only. Saving will create a copy." So I did that and it works fine from there. I can upload to Instagram and edit a copy of the original photo from which Photo App wouldn't do.

So I got to thinking deep about this peculiar problem.

I played around with the file formats in Photoshop and saving them different ways.

If I save the file as " Save As" and then save it as a "jpeg" file, then all is okay. I upload the photo to iCloud from my PC and all is fine. I can then edit the photo in the iPhone Photo App and upload to Instagram.

However if I save the same file from Photoshop as "Save As" and then save it as a "jpg" file, I then upload that "jpg" file to the iCloud from my PC, it's then that I cannot edit that photo and that is where the error messages come in - from the Photo App when trying to edit, to Instagram when trying to upload.

Snapseed tells me that the jpg file I've uploaded is a read-only image.

So the problem is with the file jpg not jpeg. Why?

So I've discovered that to upload images to my iCloud via PC and to be able to edit those photos or upload to Instagram then they have to be an actual "jpeg" file, not a jpg file.

I hope this makes sense and I hope someone can tell me what's going on.

Why the change? I can only surmise that it's with the latest iOS update.

Posted on Sep 29, 2019 7:23 AM

Top-ranking reply

pascalwhoop

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Dec 11, 2019 11:23 PM

OK I found a stable solution (for me)

rename to e.g. JPEG (not jpeg!).
change the file in a way that makes it *not* have the same hash as a file that was already uploaded to iCloud before!

if you take a file that doesn't work, download it and rename it to JPG JPEG jpg jpeg, uploading all of them, it won't work as it seems to always reuse the same file. This originally lead me to dismiss the file extension hypothesis. However, taking a defective file, renaming it to .JPEG and then rewriting just one field in the metadata (such as exiftool -copyright='contact ....@gmail.com' *.JPEG) solves it for me consistently. I just uploaded 5000 images of which more than half weren't editable. Now they all are.

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150 replies

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Sep 30, 2019 1:00 AM in response to mystical172

I hope Apple has an answer.

Further to my looking into this problem, all my photos on my iPhone and iPad are .jpg as well. I can edit the original photos on the devices without any dramas.

However, if I download the same .jpg photo from iCloud onto my desktop and use say, for example Photoshop to edit and add a watermark and I re upload the same photo to my device via iCloud then the Photo App says "Cannot Load Photo".

So I discovered that when I save my .jpg photo from Photoshop as .jpeg then upload that photo to iCloud via desktop then the Photos App accepts the photo.

It's a nightmare. It's an image file format bug or a deliberate move on Apple's part

So virtually, for me, downloading any photo from iCloud to desktop and then editing them, then re-uploading those edited photos from Desktop to iCloud renders the photos useless as I get the error message "Cannot Load Photo".

This also happens with any photo which I upload to iCloud from my desktop from my Sony and Cannon Cameras. Photos App won't open the photo.

I have a ticket for this problem so hopefully I get an answer and I will post here.

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 6, 2019 8:52 PM in response to m5zealot

Yes, I can choose a photo from Photos and click the send to icon and pick Instagram and I can add tags as well.

I can't post the normal way to Instagram.

I did mention everything to Apple Engineers and I really can't wait to hear their findings on Wednesday.

Oct 11, 2019 5:56 AM in response to Rosa07

I've reported it to Instagram and Apple and neither are admitting it's their issue. Apple say it's only Instagram so it's not their fault, Instagram say they know nothing about it. We can only hope that as more and more people update their IOS and get the same issue, more people will shout and clog up the support lines for both sides to work together on a permanent fix. I have to add a footer because of the new rules on advertising in the UK and I use pictures that are sent to me by my design team and I've not taken them myself so I can't even add the banner while it's still on my phone.

I've tried posting from Photos but even though it looks like it has shared, it doesn't seem to make it's way to my feed. I'm so frustrated and it has taken so much time without getting anywhere too!

Missbay

Level 1

4 points

Oct 13, 2019 5:48 PM in response to Rosa07

Having a similar issue. Just upgraded to iphone 11pro and iOS13. After restoring from my back up in iCloud, I can’t edit any pictures, see any Live Photo’s, post photos to instagram, or send anywhere from the photos app, and most of my older photos are blurry when I try to look at them in the photo app (though I think this is because they are stored in a lower resolution on the phone instead of the cloud).

this is even happening with new pictures I take on the phone. Wildly frustrating. Any recommendations? Here is a picture of the error message I get when I click edit (took this pic less than an hour ago)

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 16, 2019 9:31 PM in response to mystical172

mystical172 Yes the update didn't fix anything.

The problem is that the Apple Engineers haven't been able to find anything either despite screen sharing my phone an pc.

Yesterday they contacted me again and added their profile to my iPhone so that they can actually 'see' the problem. I had to do a recording showing step by step of the issue.

I did explain to them that there are dozens of other people with a similar problem in Apple Discussions and Photoshop Communities.

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 16, 2019 11:55 PM in response to Rosa07

Apple Engineers have now collected all my Photos Phone Data via PC (iTunes) and iPhone and will hear back from them tomorrow, Friday 18 Oct. Just hope they come up with something. Too many people having same or similar errors and all on different i devices and iPhone models.

This is now the third week of investigations by Apple.

JVH580

Level 1

9 points

Oct 17, 2019 11:30 AM in response to Rosa07

I’ve just tried to open a photo in Snapseed from All Photos on my iPad (iPadOS 13), taken on my iPhone XS (iOS 13). I get Error: could not load image.

I just took a photo with the iPad, and I could open that in Snapseed on the iPad. If I go back a while in my Photo Stream I seem to be able to open anything. So it seems to be photos taken since upgrading to iOS 13 on a different device from the one on which you’re running Snapseed have the problem. Yup, Snapseed on my iPhone can open that same image.

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 17, 2019 11:42 PM in response to m5zealot

m5zealot

No I said that Apple Engineers couldn't see the problem or replicate the problem. However, they have been working with me for 3 weeks trying to find answers.

For the last two days I had the engineers install their profile on my phone collecting data from the Photos App and iTunes. Late yesterday afternoon they contacted and I shared my PC with them and connected my iPhone to iTunes where they synced my phone and collected the data from my iPhone.

I've just been contacted by Apple Support a few minutes ago and they still haven't received a response from the engineers. Another phone call has been scheduled for tomorrow.

Oct 21, 2019 3:30 PM in response to Rosa07

Thanks for all your good work. In addition to the problems which you have reported which are definitely related to IOS13 I have been unable to revert previously edited jpeg files to the original format.

Nov 24, 2019 8:24 AM in response to Rosa07

Rosa06 The only thing that worked for me was messaging myself my image and saving it. The update still has not fixed the issue... still can’t upload photos from my iCloud to IG. Try the messaging way and see if that works for you!

Dec 11, 2019 2:20 PM in response to Rosa07

I am having the same issue. A large range of images that I uploaded via the webinterface cannot be edited on the iPhone.

Here is a set of observations, all after uploading the images via webinterface. importing them into the iPhone doesn't lead to the issue

Base image: NEF raw file:

- convert to jpg with imagemagick CLI --> cannot edit
- convert to jpg with imagemagick CLI, then open in e.g. GIMP and export as jpg, upload --> can edit
- any image: download via phone, pull into files app and back to photos -> can edit
- take "broken" image, edit in GIMP, upload --> can edit

Also, I have explored the EXIF data with both `identify` and `exiftool` (tools available on both macos and linux) and I couldn't find any metadata on these images that could warrant that the iOS devices cannot open them. While many values are different depending on the tool used to export the image, none seemed to predict what works and what doesn't.

Kemadpe

Level 1

4 points

Oct 2, 2019 2:31 PM in response to mayooran99

This didn’t work for me.

Oct 16, 2019 7:25 PM in response to Rosa07

New iOS update today 10/24/19 and they still haven't fixed the issue. Some .jpg's files I can edit, some I can't

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 16, 2019 9:27 PM in response to anne-marie272

anne-marie272 I've tried that as well but I think there's a problem with the Photos App or www.icloud.com

m5zealot

Level 1

19 points

Oct 17, 2019 12:34 PM in response to mystical172

I thought you said they have not acknowledged it was an Apple issue? Nothing to fix if they don’t think it’s an issue right ?

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Since iOS 13 update. . JPG problem. Cannot Load Photo. There was an error loading this photo