Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 15 Pro Ability to Export SMS to PC

M

m1maverick

macrumors 65832
Original poster
Nov 22, 2020
1,504
1,368
I currently use a Galaxy S10 as my phone but recently I dropped it an it now has two minor cracks in opposite corners of the screen. They in no way affect the operation / view of the phone but I am taking this as an opportunity to consider replacing it (given it's four generations old now).

I am considering a return to the iPhone as I have an Xs (same generation as my S10) or I may decided to buy an iPhone 15 Pro. I am currently going through my applications to determine if the iPhone has similar ones available. One that seems to be missing is the ability to export SMS / iMessages to a computer. Note that I am not looking to backup these messages but rather export them. On my S10 I use "SMS Backup and Restore" which is a great program. I found a similar program, SMS Backup+, for iOS but, despite its name, is not from the same developer nor offers the same capability.

What I have found are, IMO, lame ways to "export" messages via screen shots, individually marking messages to e-mail, etc. All of which are not suitable for what I want to do. I have also found computer programs which claim to do what I want but they appear to be unacceptable too (one exports to HTML the other didn't work, at least not with the trial version).

When I had my iPhone 6 I recall there being an app that did just what I wanted. I have those backups on my PC but I can't recall the name of it and I am unable to find anything via the App Store or Google. Did security improvements in iOS render this capability impossible?

From my research it seems I am not the only one who would like such a capability but I haven't found anything that provides it. Does anyone know of an app or computer program which does this (this being exporting all the messages to an CSV type of file)?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Splitrail
Sorinut said:
Dang...it worked a couple years ago for me..
Click to expand...

I tested it on iOS 17.1.1 along with Catalina (which is what my test system is limited to). It states OS X versions 10.10 and up are supported, perhaps I need a later version of macOS?

I'll reach out to the developer.

What was your experience like?
 
I too seek a solution to this problem.
And it leaves me wondering why it's even a problem to begin with.
 
Sorinut said:
Dang...it worked a couple years ago for me..
Click to expand...
Looks like it was user error. My test phone had no messages so there was, as it said, nothing to display. I ended up testing with my work iPhone and the program appears to do exactly what I need it to do (even better is it can export toe Excel or CSV). Looks like a nice program for $39.99.
 
Just want to point out that in 2021 when I switched back to iPhone from a Google Pixel, the Apple transfer app in the Google Play store transferred all my SMS off the Pixel. Nothing I do via SMS/iMessage with anyone is in any way important, so it didn't matter at all to me. But, as it seems to be important to OP, I thought I'd mention it.
 
m1maverick said:
Looks like it was user error. My test phone had no messages so there was, as it said, nothing to display. I ended up testing with my work iPhone and the program appears to do exactly what I need it to do (even better is it can export toe Excel or CSV). Looks like a nice program for $39.99.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear! Sorry I didn't back with you quicker..I haven't had access to my home computer for a bit.

It is a handy program; not as useful as it used to be, but there are still several edge cases where it shines!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
eyoungren said:
Just want to point out that in 2021 when I switched back to iPhone from a Google Pixel, the Apple transfer app in the Google Play store transferred all my SMS off the Pixel. Nothing I do via SMS/iMessage with anyone is in any way important, so it didn't matter at all to me. But, as it seems to be important to OP, I thought I'd mention it.
Click to expand...

I like to keep a backup of my text messages for legal reasons. I have a friend who was accused of something and had it not been for some text messages he might be sitting in prison right now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eyoungren
m1maverick said:
What features are no longer present?
Click to expand...

iMazing still has all its features, plus more, than it did originally. I just meant that the syncing bit that it does well isn't really as needed as it used to be, with iCloud and all that. I previously used it as an alternative to iTunes sync.

It was also useful for extracting things from the iPhone and backups when jailbreaking.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: m1maverick
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back