Apple iCloud for Windows appears to be having serious issues for some users, with complaints about Mac rumors Forums about corrupted videos and photos from strangers that appear in photo libraries.


There are quite a few complaints from customers who are experiencing complications with the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro models. Videos recorded on iPhone and then synced with iCloud‌ for Windows turn black with scan lines, making the videos unwatchable.

What is even more disturbing is that some users are seeing strange photos and videos that do not belong to them appearing in their libraries when they try to view these corrupted videos. Mac rumors Reader sleeping_ghost explains:

iCloud for Windows corrupts videos recorded from iPhone 14 pro max resulting in black videos with scan lines. On rare occasions, it inserts still images into videos from unknown sources, possibly other iCloud accounts. I was shown pictures of other people’s families that I’ve never seen before, soccer games, and other random pictures. This is obviously very worrisome and doesn’t make me feel safe using iCloud.

It is not clear if the photos are photos from other iCloud‌ users, but it seems possible. From the topic, users saw random families, children, soccer games, and other similar image content.

Deleting the iCloud app‌ for Windows does not seem to fix the problem, as it may be server-side, and many people have reported this to Apple, so the company may be aware of this. Windows 11 and Windows 10 both seem to be affected, and it may only affect devices with certain settings like HDR and HEVC enabled.

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