An apparent bug in iPhone OS 3.0 allows users to sometimes get their hands on e-mail messages that are supposed to be deleted.
The issue seems to affect both the iPhone and iPod Touch. In a video demonstration on YouTube, a man named Matt Janssen demonstrates how to recover e-mail messages even after they have been deleted from the user’s in-box and trash file. Using a second-generation iPod Touch with the 3.0 software, he was able to view messages that were months old despite them having been deleted.
“These messages are still on the iPod somewhere even after you delete them, but you can’t find them without searching for them,” he said.
To find the e-mails, users can leverage a search feature known as Spotlight, which is meant to enable users to quickly find applications, e-mails, music and other files. The apparent bug allows users to leverage Spotlight to pull up deleted e-mail.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment on the issue. There have been reports, however, that the situation does not impact the iPhone OS 3.1 beta.
“This is a security issue, a bug, and hopefully Apple will fix it in some later releases,” Janssen said.