Base Photos app is broken

Question

Level 1

8 points

Base Photos app is broken

Recently, I found out that I was unable to download a picture from Twitter. It would not show up in the albums. When I try to take a picture, it would not show up in the Photos app as well.

I did a soft reset, but it didn't work.

I did a factory reset, and backed up to the last version before the malfunction of the Photos app, but upon tapping the Photos icon, it took a while to load, showing only white, and then none of the content would appear. There was not even albums like a Camera Roll on it. I couldn't switch between the Photos or Albums tabs. Not to mention that one of the tabs seems to be missing.

Another thing that I noticed is that when I went to the About section in Settings, Songs, Videos, and Photos would always be stuck on "Loading..."

This is on a iPhone 5. It was refurbished when I bought it, and the Photos app was working just fine.

The iOS version is 9.3.1.

iPhone 5, iOS 9.3.1

Posted on Apr 27, 2016 5:23 AM

Reply

Answer 1

AppleJoe

Community Manager

Apr 28, 2016 11:45 AM in response to Eh516

Hi Eh516,

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities!

I understand that Photos on your iPhone is not opening or functioning as expected. I see that you have already tried some great troubleshooting as well, but the issue continues.

To continue troubleshooting there may be a couple of different steps I would recommend.

First, close Photos completely as described in the following article.

Force an app to close in iOS - Apple Support

After Photos has been closed, restart your iPhone.

Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Once your iPhone boots back up, try and open Photos fresh and test it out. If the issue continues, please let us know so we can continue helping you troubleshoot and get this issue resolved.

Best!

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Answer 2

Eh516 Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 29, 2016 2:02 PM in response to AppleJoe

The issue still persists.

Another thing I have noticed is that when I used the Camera app, I saw the picture thumbnail on the lower left corner to contain an old image that is no longer present in my Photos app.

It is still empty, with no albums like Camera Roll or Recently Deleted.

Reply

Answer 3

AppleJoe

Community Manager

May 1, 2016 6:09 AM in response to Eh516

Thank you for responding. To continue troubleshooting, the next step I suggest is to reinstall iOS. Reinstalling iOS should not affect any of your data, but if this issue is software related, reinstalling the iPhone Operating System should be helpful.

Before you begin the process, please take the time to make sure you have a current backup in either iCloud or iTunes.

How to back up your devices using iCloud or iTunes - Apple Support

Once you have a current backup, please follow the instructions in the following article to reinstall iOS. I understand that these steps were written for a different situation, but this series of steps will reinstall iOS and help us further isolate the issue.

Connect your device to a computer and open iTunes. If you don't have a computer, you can borrow one, or go to an Apple Retail Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider for help.

While your device is connected, force it to restart. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons at the same time. Don't release when you see the Apple logo. Keep holding until you see the Recovery mode screen.

When you get the option to restore or update, choose Update. iTunes will try to reinstall iOS without erasing your data.

iTunes will download the software for your device. If it takes more than 15 minutes, your device will exit recovery mode and you'll need to repeat steps 2 and 3 again.

If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch won't turn on - Apple Support

Cheers

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