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

Oct 11, 2019 5:11 AM in response to GingerCatLJ

Thanks for your input. We need to try and convince Apple it's their problem.

I too edit most of my photos on my desktop.

It's not Instagram's fault. I've contacted Instagram. I've had to uninstall and re-install Instagram and no luck, yet I can post the same photo to Facebook even though Photos won't load the photo and won't export into Instagram. Facebook owns Instagram.

Not only am I seeing problems here in the Apple Community about Photos not being able to Load Photo, but in the Photoshop Community I'm in, people are having all sorts of problems with file incompatibility since iOS 13 and Catalina for Mac users.

It seems like something or some code/codecs Apple used in their recent iOS 13 update has upset the apple cart on so many levels and either the Apple engineers aren't getting it or not admitting to it.

Maybe with your continued chat with Apple, suggest that this is not Instagram's fault as another user (me) has already contacted Instagram. It's only ever been since iOS 13 that the problem has started and people are complaining of the same thing in Apple and Photoshop communities.

I've been fortunate that I have a link to upload screenshots and share data from my iPhone and www.icloud.com with Apple Engineers but so far they haven't been able to replicate the problem. They are still working on it and will get back to me on Wednesday 16th.

It's doing my head in as I have to do a long workaround to post to Instagram.

The thing is even though Photos 'Cannot Load Photo' I can still open that image in another photo app on my iPhone. I use an app called Snapseed. When I first load a photo from my Photo Library in the Snapseed App, Snapseed tells me it is a 'Read Only Image' and that any changes will only save the image as a copy. Which is fine by me.

The point is, which I told the Apple Engineers, if another iPhone photo app tells me that the photo I've imported from my Photo Library is a read only image, then something is going wrong when www.icloud.com imports the image to Photos Library.

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 11, 2019 6:11 AM in response to GingerCatLJ

I hear you and totally agree!

I've mentioned to others to call support as several voices are better than one!

I'm glad I've still got an open support ticket with Apple Engineers and I'm continually feeding them examples of the issue via screen shots.

I noticed that there was an update to iCloud on desktop this morning and I've just discovered that no photo that I've uploaded from desktop to www.icloud.com will open on my iPhone. I've just posted my findings to Apple. It makes me think there's a problem with www.icloud.com

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 29, 2019 12:06 AM in response to PhysioJan1

PhysioJan1

Sorry I meant to post before today but had a hectic weekend. I had a response from Apple engineers and they told me that they could now see the problem with the photos and the iPhone Photo App from their data collection sync off my iPhone. This was the third data sync with their profile installed on my phone and this time they actually 'captured' the problem 'live' with several of my photos not being able to open in the Photo Library because of the error 'Cannot Load Photo'.

So finally from all the statistics collected the engineers could 'see' the problem.

Apple did tell me that they will contact me again on Friday 1st November with their 'findings' and thanked me for bringing this to their attention. So I believe it's a bug after all.

Hopefully this will bring a fix.

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 29, 2019 12:07 AM in response to Rosa07

So finally from all the statistics collected the engineers could 'see' the problem.

Apple did tell me that they will contact me again on Friday 1st November with their 'findings' and thanked me for bringing this to their attention. So I believe it's a bug after all.

Hopefully this will bring a fix.

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 29, 2019 4:18 AM in response to Richlv

Richlv Do you have optimized Storage turned on? When Optimized Storage is on, it will keep thumbnails of photos on your iPhone and then download the full size image from iCloud after you tap on a photo. However, Optimized Storage requires Wi-Fi or cellular to download the full size image.

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Nov 24, 2019 9:59 PM in response to PhysioJan1

PhysioJan1 Well the engineers logged the issue as a bug and as of today I've not heard any feedback. I will give them until Friday before I call them for an update.

m5zealot

Level 1

19 points

Oct 5, 2019 10:09 AM in response to Rosa07

Hello. I’m having the same issue. All photos I have edited with any of my photo apps are not being accepted by Instagram. However, when I use the Uplet app - a 3rd party app that lets me upload multiple pics from my desktop, IG accepts them. I have a feeling the bug is a combination in IOS 13 and IG. It seems any pics edited even with correct jpeg tag are being rejected by IG. Facebook has no issues upload from my iPhone (cloud).

m5zealot

Level 1

19 points

Oct 6, 2019 1:36 PM in response to Rosa07

That is weird and somehow contradicts my findings. Instagram doesn’t seem to care if the pics are jpg or jpeg uploaded to the cloud. I saw this because the work around I mentioned previously, I’m able to get photos to post on Instagram with zero issues if I initiate the post from Photos.

I simply choose a photo and click the send to icon and pick Instagram. I’m not able to tag people or add location obviously and have to go on Instagram to make changes later. I’m a heavy poster - almost 10k post so this bug is very annoying and time consuming. Did you mention my experience with them? That could be a crucial component for their troubleshooting. Thanks.

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 11, 2019 1:41 AM in response to Rosa07

Apple Engineers contacted me today as they said they would and they cannot reproduce the problem, even though they've screen shared my devices and I've uploaded detailed step by step screenshots, they're not seeing the problem.

So this time what they did was wait until I uploaded a photo to iCloud.com and then on my iPhone I had to open the photo and as usual, Photos could not load photo. Then they were able to to perform an enhanced logging session and collect the actual data from my phone.

I will hear from them again Wednesday next week.

It just seems I'm going over and over this issue with the engineers and they're not getting it.

Perhaps if more of us contacted https://getsupport.apple.com/ they might get an idea that this is really an issue in discussions.apple.com - even though I've told them about the discussions here, I don't think they look to be honest.

Oct 12, 2019 2:45 AM in response to Rosa07

It’s definitely the cloud that’s the issue. I emailed a photo to a friend and she sent it back via WhatsApp and it worked perfectly. If I download the same photo from my emails on my phone it has to go through the cloud and doesn’t work. I’m not home today so I can’t feed it back to Apple but it’s definitely their issue and not instagram.

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 12, 2019 4:33 AM in response to GingerCatLJ

I had a classic example of the stuff up with www.icloud.com which I'd sent to Apple -

I went to upload a .jpeg file from my pc to www.icloud.com and received and error message from www.icloud.com which said "There was a problem uploading 1 file. Only files in JPEG format can be uploaded".

The file I was uploading was a JPEG file and to make sure I checked the photo's properties and yes you guessed right . . . the "Item type" was a "JPEG" file.

Oct 23, 2019 4:21 PM in response to Rosa07

Thank you once again for persisting. So frustrating!!

i have a huge backlog of photos as I use my phone as my photo album - don’t use instagram or facebook so definitely nothing to do with a third party!

Fortunately I haven’t ‘upgraded’ to IOS 13 on my ipad so can edit all those photos with IOS 12. But same photos on iphone are read only. This alone would clearly identify IOS 13 as the problem

Has anyone else noticed that previously edited jpeg photos won’t revert to original format ?

I plan on attending my local apple store and speak to the techs there - if the engineers aren’t taking notice of complaints through the forum perhaps complaints coming from their onsite staff may have some effect.

I have purchased an iphone 10 max and pay for extra cloud storage purely for my photos so very frustrated apple have been unable to identify let alone fix a basic problem. Very frustrated!!!!

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 24, 2019 4:54 PM in response to Merkelbr

Merkelbr - It's totally weird isn't it? I suggest you go to https://getsupport.apple.com/?caller=psp&PRKEYS=PL133 and contact them. Apple are pretty good at getting back to you. The more people call in with this problem, the more the Apple Engineers will take notice.

I've heard that some people are only updating to iOS13 now and are encountering the same problem but they've been going to their local Apple store but the customer service there can't help.

Meanwhile I'm not giving up. I'm now coming to the end of my 4th week with Apple trying to find the problem. They can't replicate the issue their end despite the fact that their in my iPhone with their profile and collecting data.

Who knows?

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 24, 2019 7:27 PM in response to feral9er

feral9er I'm advising everyone to contact support - https://getsupport.apple.com/?caller=psp&PRKEYS=PL133 as the engineers from Apple are having a hard time seeing the problem.

I'm on my 4th week with them doing the same thing, screen sharing, data sharing, they're in my iPhone collecting data and yet they can't see the problem.

I'm expecting another phone call this afternoon at 5pm so hope they've found something!

Rosa07 Author

Level 1

38 points

Nov 6, 2019 7:14 AM in response to Rosa07

I just had a call from Apple and was told that the engineers are still working on the problem and don't have an answer yet. They told me to update to iOS 13.2 to see if it fixes the problem. I've just updated to 13.2 and the issue is still present. They will ring me back on Friday.

It's good that Apple are keeping in regular contact.

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