16MMHome Saving, storage and recovery
Keep your Takes safe and recover interrupted saves.
Check the save
Library keeps the original photo or footage and Look settings on your phone so you can recover a picture or try another Look. After a camera Take develops, 16MM tries to save the finished video or photo to Photos. If that save fails, the local item stays in 16MM for another try. Assembled Films need an explicit export and save. Photos show saving or recovery guidance in their viewer; video Details include Save status.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Saved to Photos | A copy is in Photos. |
| In Library only | Your video or photo is saved in 16MM. |
| Needs attention · open options to save | Open the item’s options and choose Save to Photos. |
| Needs attention · open options to retry | Open the item’s options for recovery. |
| Needs attention · original kept | The original photo or footage is still available. |
| Original saved to Photos | The original was saved to Photos. |
If saving another copy fails, an earlier Photos copy may still be there. Check the item’s saving information before retrying.
When development pauses
Keep shooting while videos and photos develop. For videos on iOS 26 or later, development may continue with another app open. Return to 16MM if it pauses, and let a warm phone cool.
Use Resume Development when offered. Cancel development discards the unfinished Take.
For a failed video or photo, open its options. Choose Retry Development when offered to try again from the original. If you see Retry Keeping Photo or Retry Keeping Take, keep 16MM open and use it to finish saving the item on your phone.
Photos access and the album
Automatic saving asks for add-only Photos access. With full access, saved videos and photos go into the 16MM album. Add-only or limited access saves to Photos without the album.
Settings → Library → Camera Roll access opens iOS Settings. A failed save keeps the video or photo in 16MM.
Delete a video or photo
If an item is linked to a Photos copy, iOS asks to delete that copy first. Cancel or deny the request to keep its local files. Older Camera Roll copies without that link stay in Photos.
After you successfully delete an item opened from the Library grid, you return to that collection first. Its thumbnail then leaves the grid and nearby items move into place. If you cancel or deletion fails, the item stays.
Printed frames, exports and shared copies stay where you put them. Films keep their own copies, so deleting a Take leaves an existing Film intact. An original photo or footage may stay in 16MM while another saved version or unfinished development needs it.
Film drafts stay separate
A Film owns local copies of its clips and any added music. Its edits save automatically on this device. Making or editing a Film does not make another Take or save to Photos. Export the Film, then choose Download or Share.
Deleting a Film removes its edit and owned local files. Original Takes, albums and copies already saved to Photos stay available. Films are not included in iCloud Sync.
Local storage is not a backup
Deleting the app can remove its files. Keep a Photos or exported copy of Takes and Films you want to keep. Library media is excluded from device backup where iOS allows it.