Oops, your iCloud photos may appear on a stranger’s PC

Here’s a particularly annoying bug for iCloud users on Windows. Users are complaining on the MacRumors forums about problems with the data synchronization service from Apple. The application, which integrates with Windows File Explorer, normally allows you to find content such as photos, videos or files on a computer. A practical tool similar to other solutions like Google Drive; specially designed to read data stored on an iPhone or iPad.

These users indicate that the synchronization is not performed correctly for a few days. Videos captured from an iPhone then synced to iCloud for Windows arrive corrupted on their machines. A black screen or black bars make videos unplayable.

The bug only affects iCloud for Windows

More worrying, some users end up with photos and videos that do not belong to them. They synchronize on their Windows machines, which is not likely to reassure iCloud fans. “I was shown photos of other people’s families that I have never seen in my life, football games and other random photos. Obviously this is extremely concerning and doesn’t really make me feel safe using iCloud.”says a user confronted with this bug.

The problem seems to mainly affect iPhone 13 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro owners; who filmed in HDR and HEVC. Deleting and reinstalling the iCloud app does not seem to resolve the issue. This suggests that the bug is indeed located on Apple’s server sideaffecting both Windows 10 and Windows 11. Alerted, Apple should quickly look into the problem and correct it.

In the meantime, there remains possible to disable synchronization from iCloud Photo Library. To do this, you need to go to the settings of your iOS or iPadOS device (Settings -> click on your profile image -> iCloud -> Pictures). For information, this bug is not linked to the recent integration of iCloud in the Windows Photos application.