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abeck510
May 27, 2009, 11:49 PM
So i know all my text messages are saved when I backup my iPhone because all of the text-logs come back when I restore the phone. I was wondering if it is possible to access these text-logs on my computer? I'm not sure what folder this would be located or if it is even possible to extract certain conversation logs. Thanks for any advice!


dvdhsu
May 28, 2009, 04:13 PM
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Back-Up-Your-iPhone-Text-Messages-85555.shtml
Take a look at that.
Hope that helps!

David
foob
May 28, 2009, 08:57 PM
On the phone, they are stored in /var/mobile/Library/SMS/sms.db. You could search your computer for "sms.db" and see if it shows up. That's an SQLite database file and can be read with any program that works with SQLite files.

However, they may not be easy to read. I opened it in an SQLite database program and it was impossible to follow a conversation because the snippets are all stored in seperate tables. It probably depends on your experience with databases. I have very little plus I was using the basic SQLite program on Linux and was only looking at them out of curiosity. If you know databases or find a slick windows or mac program and can make it spit everything out in the proper order, it's probably a different story.
kyleaa
May 28, 2009, 09:04 PM
I recently got a program called PhoneView as part of the last MacHeist bundle. It allows you to view SMS logs and export them to various formats. You have to have the device connected to do it, though.

http://www.ecamm.com/mac/phoneview/
Diode
May 28, 2009, 09:09 PM
Any of these programs restore messages to a restored iphone?

Is that possible?
kyleaa
May 28, 2009, 09:11 PM
Any of these programs restore messages to a restored iphone?

Is that possible?

You would need to have a backup of the phone stored on your computer. When you restore your phone it will present you with two options, set up as new or restore from backup.

http://www.mattcutts.com/images/restore-iphone.png

Do you want to do a restore and only restore the SMS history?
Diode
May 28, 2009, 09:12 PM
You would need to have a backup of the phone stored on your computer. When you restore your phone it will present you with two options, set up as new or restore from backup.

http://www.mattcutts.com/images/restore-iphone.png

Do you want to do a restore and only restore the SMS history?

Yea I'm aware of this method. I meant do a wipe and only restore the SMS messages. (IE set-up as a new phone and then restore the text messages).

My contacts and calendar are through mobileme so I'm not worried about them.
kyleaa
May 28, 2009, 09:19 PM
Yea I'm aware of this method. I meant do a wipe and only restore the SMS messages. (IE set-up as a new phone and then restore the text messages).

My contacts and calendar are through mobileme so I'm not worried about them.

I believe that PhoneView can do it - but I can't say for sure. My iPhone is currently broken :( so I can't confirm. They have a free demo available that you can check out.