4 ms·

This is quite nice. iMessage doesn't keep your whole message history on-device. You can scroll back and it will fetch a bit more each time, but that's it. Is

by gumby 3y ago

This is quite nice. iMessage doesn't keep your whole message history on-device. You can scroll back and it will fetch a bit more each time, but that's it. Is there anyway to pull back to the beginning of time into the local database? I'd like to retrieve some specific old messages from a friend who has passed away. If I could get them out I could search (I know what I am looking for) but it would involve an unfeasible amount of "pull to fetch more"

dewey 3y ago
Wouldn't the tool we are commenting on solve your problem nicely or what are you missing? Have you checked out the sqlite database where they are all stored? Does the iMessage search not work for this use case? https://arctype.com/blog/search-imessage/ https://arctype.com/blog/search-imessage/
- jcims 3y ago
  I've been tinkering with this recently and there are conversations where the last content in the sqlite database is a month and a half old. Oddly in some cases there used to be newer content in there that had since disappeared.
  - css 3y ago
    If you are talking about data missing from the `text` column, for some reason it disappears after you read a message. The content is stored in a binary blob in a different column, which I parse like this: https://github.com/ReagentX/imessage-exporter/blob/c73bc4d666da3a543708b553c9106acf89454e81/imessage-database/src/util/streamtyped.rs#L17-L68 https://github.com/ReagentX/imessage-exporter/blob/c73bc4d66...
    - jcims 3y ago
      oooooh that's exactly what it is! thank you!
amarshall 3y ago
> iMessage doesn't keep your whole message history on-device Unless you’ve changed the “message history” setting, yes, it does keep all history on-device. It’s just incredibly frustrating to access any of it because Messages.app is awful at history.
cincorrect 3y ago
> iMessage doesn't keep your whole message history on-device. You can scroll back and it will fetch a bit more each time, but that's it. This is confidently incorrect. The entire database is stored on device in a SQLite database. It absolutely has a terrible UI for fetching messages, but they’re all there.
- accrual 3y ago
  I previously kept copies of this SQLite database on hand when backing up my phone (it stores to a specific folder every time), but since encrypted backups were introduced a few iOS versions ago, I found it too much of a hassle. If OP wants to find this file, a good search term is "3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28" which apparently is a sum of the string "HomeDomain-Library/SMS/sms.db". One thing I miss from Android was the simplicity of getting data in and out of the phone. I could just dump everything to CSV and be done with it.
- sherry-sherry 3y ago
  They might mean attachments too, which I count as whole message history. Messages seems to be somewhat random about keeping/removing attachments from your devices regardless of how much storage you have free or whether you have 'Optimise Storage' off. *note this is specifically when using Messages with iCloud
GrabbinD33ze69 3y ago
If you don't sync imessage to iCloud, I thought it quite literally only stored on device in that case, besides when it in transit to be delivered. Referencing this official apple article, messages that are waiting to be delivered to devices can sit in the message queue for up to 30 days. https://support.apple.com/guide/security/how-imessage-sends-and-receives-messages-sec70e68c949/web https://support.apple.com/guide/security/how-imessage-sends-...

by gumby 3y ago

dewey 3y ago

Wouldn't the tool we are commenting on solve your problem nicely or what are you missing? Have you checked out the sqlite database where they are all stored? Does the iMessage search not work for this use case? https://arctype.com/blog/search-imessage/ https://arctype.com/blog/search-imessage/

jcims 3y ago
I've been tinkering with this recently and there are conversations where the last content in the sqlite database is a month and a half old. Oddly in some cases there used to be newer content in there that had since disappeared.
- css 3y ago
  If you are talking about data missing from the `text` column, for some reason it disappears after you read a message. The content is stored in a binary blob in a different column, which I parse like this: https://github.com/ReagentX/imessage-exporter/blob/c73bc4d666da3a543708b553c9106acf89454e81/imessage-database/src/util/streamtyped.rs#L17-L68 https://github.com/ReagentX/imessage-exporter/blob/c73bc4d66...
  - jcims 3y ago
    oooooh that's exactly what it is! thank you!

amarshall 3y ago

> iMessage doesn't keep your whole message history on-device Unless you’ve changed the “message history” setting, yes, it does keep all history on-device. It’s just incredibly frustrating to access any of it because Messages.app is awful at history.

cincorrect 3y ago

> iMessage doesn't keep your whole message history on-device. You can scroll back and it will fetch a bit more each time, but that's it. This is confidently incorrect. The entire database is stored on device in a SQLite database. It absolutely has a terrible UI for fetching messages, but they’re all there.

accrual 3y ago
I previously kept copies of this SQLite database on hand when backing up my phone (it stores to a specific folder every time), but since encrypted backups were introduced a few iOS versions ago, I found it too much of a hassle. If OP wants to find this file, a good search term is "3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28" which apparently is a sum of the string "HomeDomain-Library/SMS/sms.db". One thing I miss from Android was the simplicity of getting data in and out of the phone. I could just dump everything to CSV and be done with it.
sherry-sherry 3y ago
They might mean attachments too, which I count as whole message history. Messages seems to be somewhat random about keeping/removing attachments from your devices regardless of how much storage you have free or whether you have 'Optimise Storage' off. *note this is specifically when using Messages with iCloud

GrabbinD33ze69 3y ago

If you don't sync imessage to iCloud, I thought it quite literally only stored on device in that case, besides when it in transit to be delivered. Referencing this official apple article, messages that are waiting to be delivered to devices can sit in the message queue for up to 30 days. https://support.apple.com/guide/security/how-imessage-sends-and-receives-messages-sec70e68c949/web https://support.apple.com/guide/security/how-imessage-sends-...