Some photos are blurry before zooming in

Question

Level 1

79 points

Some photos are blurry before zooming in

Hi,

This issue has been bothering me for a while now and I haven't found any conclusive help for it either. First noticed a few years ago, but again recently due to a new photo of mine.

So the issue is following: after opening the photo it appears all blurry at first, but after zooming in a little, it becomes sharp and appears in high resolution. It doesn't seem to happen with most pictures (or in a very limited way, where the difference only shows up after comparing screenshots of before and after), but always my own taken ones.

Down are screenshots for comparison:

(Right after opening, low res)

(When first zooming in and the resetting zoom, high res)

Would recommend downloading both images onto Photos and swipe between the two quickly to see the difference.

First noticed on my old 7 Plus, but it has either disappeared or one I have with this new photo on my 11 Pro is just that much worse. But then again, this new photo seems fine on 7 Plus as well, so it appears to just be case with my 11 Pro.

I asked few friends as well if it happened on their end and results were mixed. One with 5s and another one with 12 didn't face it for example, but another friend with 11 had it as well.

iCloud photos is on, but Download and Keep Originals toggle is enabled. View Full HDR is enabled as well. All the drill.

It is blurry on 7 Plus as well, but only for a second. Your usual split second loading. Same thing on Mac. But on 11 Pro it just remains blurry indefinitely, without manual intervention.

I have noticed this issue having been brought up for years now, but without a real conclusive answer. Has anyone gotten a solution in meantime?

Greetings

Posted on Feb 26, 2022 1:39 PM

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Answer 1

Mr Leo Sir

Level 4

1,645 points

Feb 26, 2022 2:20 PM in response to vihtla

Hi vihtla

So let me make sure I understand what your saying here.

You take a photo on your iphone 11 pro, when going into the photos app and then looking at the photo.

It doesnt look like the photos has fully downloaded yet? so blurry?

You have tryed this on your iphone 7 plus and a mac with the same thing?

If this is the case, the only thing I can think of is to do with the res of the photo. It is odd that it is happening on your iphone you took it on. Have you tryed restarting the iphone? clearing all the apps?

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Answer 2

vihtla Author

Level 1

79 points

Feb 26, 2022 11:59 PM in response to Mr Leo Sir

Not every photo is affected by that, but yes, most notably with this one specific image I took on my 11 Pro. Also occurred with 7 Plus years ago but that has either resolved itself somehow or is just so little affected compared to 11 Pro that I don’t even notice it anymore there.

Photo looks all mushy and details scrunched together. I can wait for however long I want, but nothing happens. Only if I start zooming it, full details would appear.

I tried it on my 7 Plus and Mac and no, those devices are fine. Even this particular photo.

Restarting hasn’t helped. Clearing the apps... I’m not sure how would that help. Only happens in Photos app. If I uploaded the image somewhere else in full resolution then it would open up in full resolution there as well.

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Answer 3

Mr Leo Sir

Level 4

1,645 points

Feb 27, 2022 11:39 AM in response to vihtla

Hi vihtla,

Odd one, you might want to contact apple support for a more indepth look into this.

But it might just be that the photo app doesnt load the full imdage, this could be down to lots of reason. Or down to saving battery etc.

Shutting the other apps would mean nothing big was running or trying to run in the background, if you have this setting switched on.

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Answer 4

vihtla Author

Level 1

79 points

Feb 27, 2022 2:39 PM in response to Mr Leo Sir

Already contacted support and wasn’t no help, which is why I’m here. I tested it on my old device and Photos app functions fine with it there. Battery is new, never even used low power mode on this device, so cannot do with it either. Background app refresh is turned on as well, not that it’d have anything to do with it if Photos app is on focus.

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Answer 5

vihtla Author

Level 1

79 points

Feb 27, 2022 2:51 PM in response to Mr Leo Sir

In short: not sure either and only went through troubleshooting basically. I only did chat support though and as the one doing chat was not trained to iOS Photos app, they tried to arrange a call, but as I’m from a foreign country, that’s not really an option.

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