Image: Video Screenshot
iPhone users using iOS 15 and 15.1 find the thumbnails in the Photos app blurry. This issue apparently arose after they switched to the latest software update.
People facing this issue have been clueless about the possible reason as they had never come across such a problem before. The thumbnails in the Photos app appear to be blurry, however, pictures in each album appear fine. As the issue continues to arise on iOS 15 and 15.1, many people took to public discussion forums and asked for a possible fix.
“I get this pixelated mess now. I don’t have iCloud photos on or anything, it just started turning the thumbnails to the lowest possible quality. Also when I look at the actual photo it’s full quality. I guess someone thinks we only need a vague impression of the photos from the thumbnails” (Apple Communities)
“I’m having this exact same issue since 15.1. I tried restoring, clean installing, downloading all pictures vs optimizing them… nothing makes a difference. This started as soon as 15.1 was installed so clearly it’s a bug. My photos look fine when I open them but on the camera roll themselves they look blurry.” (Apple Communities)
According to a member on the Apple discussions forum, he indicated that the problem lies in using iCloud for Photos. He suggested turning Optimize iPhone Storage to OFF.
Open Settings ➔ Photos ➔ Download and Keep Originals: Checkmark it.
One Reddit member suggested:
“Do you have [Settings-YourName-iCloud-Photos] turned ON? That is not a backup service, but a sync service (of photos). If that is OFF, photos are included when you do a device backup (whether to iCloud or iTunes/Finder), just not “syncing” to the cloud. Your description hints that you are syncing photos to iCloud and phone is just getting populated with thumbnails.”
Yet the issue persists as users who do not have iCloud for Photos are still facing this bug. Apparently, it is an iOS bug that needs a quick fix. iPhone users are desperately waiting for Apple’s official word on the iOS 15 bug where thumbnails in the Photos app look blurry. No solutions have worked out for the affected users and all they could do is look up to Apple support.