Some iPhone 4 users are reporting that their Apple smartphones appear to be taking pictures of them without their knowledge, then displaying these mysteriously snapped photos during FaceTime calls.
Users have taken to an Apple support forum to complain of the issue. According to their posts, they have seen photos taken with the iPhone 4's front facing camera--but which they themselves did not take--freeze on the phone's screen during FaceTime calls.
"My boyfriend and I have both recently experienced this problem several times - when one of us is calling the other via FaceTime, an old picture freezes on our screen, while the person receiving the call only sees a black screen," wrote kar0786. "It's kind of creepy, because it brought up photos of both of us at work, where I have used FaceTime a few times but he never has. We're just wondering how/why this is happening, and if there is a fix. It's not terribly inconvenient, but it's definitely unsettling, where is seems that even if we haven't taken a picture or used FaceTime, the camera is keeping images."
Another wrote, "I have a dashboard mount for my phone. I had left the phone in the car when I ran in to get my sandwich. This was at a strip mall that I had never visited before and never connected to any WiFi. I parked in the middle of the lot, about 75ft from the doors to Subway. Ran it, got my food, hopped back in the car. I hit the button to see if anyone called me (no one did) and drove off. After I got in to where I was working and ate my sandwich, I tried to use FaceTime and saw a frozen image of me in the car from 20-30 minutes prior!"
What might be causing the alleged issue has not been determined, though Apple support reportedly told one user,nasetron, to restore the factory settings on the iPhone 4 in order to resolve the problem (nasetron notes the problem "didn't go away after that, so they actually had me return it to an Apple store and swap it out for a new one."). People have reported the issue on both iOS 4.3 and iOS 4.3.1.
Have you experienced this issue? Let us know by sending us a tip or by posting a comment below.