WhatsApp users urged to update NOW to fix duplicate image bug and free up storage space

Tech & Gadgets

META has urged WhatsApp users to update their app today to fix a bug that automatically saves photos twice instead of just once.

Thousands of users have complained about it on social media and customer support channels in recent days, saying it had become a “constant battle” to manage their storage.

The problem cannot be solved by simply disabling the feature, users claimCredit: Getty

In a support discussion in the Apple community, one iPhone owners said after received more than 8,700 votes from people who had experienced the same problem.

The bug affects WhatsApp’s “auto save to camera roll” feature, which downloads all images shared in the app to a user’s photo album.

But image storage has doubled, putting a strain on a phone’s storage space.

We are introducing a solution for users and recommend everyone involved to download the latest version of the app.

Meta spokesperson

It also cannot be fixed by simply disabling the feature, users claim.

“I thought my new iPhone was hacked or something. This is annoying!” they said wrote on Reddit.

Another replied: “I’m having the exact same problem. It’s driving me crazy.”

While a third user wrote: “Same here, started happening yesterday.

“Maybe it’s a recent update with a bug. It will probably be corrected soon.”

Initially, iPhone owners thought the problem was caused by Apple’s latest update iOS 17.4, which was rolled out on March 5.

But Apple pointed iPhone owners to WhatsApp’s customer service channels as more people experiencing the bug said they hadn’t yet updated to the latest iOS.

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A spokesperson for Meta told The Sun: “We are aware that a small number of iPhone users are experiencing issues receiving media, resulting in it being saved twice to their camera roll.

“We are introducing a solution for users and recommend that everyone involved download the latest version of the app.”

It comes just over a week after Meta was plagued by outages, which mainly affected the Facebook and Instagram platforms.

Millions of users around the world were left believing they had been hacked while experiencing issues with their Facebook and Instagram connections.