Why Jailbreak? : Download SMS Messages And Voicemails

The iPhone is a wonderful device that can store loads of information, whether that information be personal, for business, or even for school. But if you're like I am, you like to have back-ups of everything—even for Apple's wonderful mobile device. If you have a jailbroken iPhone, you can download all of your voicemails and SMS messages to your computer using this easy guide. Downloading SMS Messages to Your Computer: I love text messaging. I'm not obsessed with it like so many people are, but I find it yet another medium through which I can have conversations with my friends and acquaintances. There are some conversations that mean absolutely nothing to me, but there are others which tell a story that I'd love to save. Call me sentimental, but these text messages do exist. Until I jailbroke my phone, the only way to save these messages was to take screenshots of my SMS messages which is a very, very roundabout way of doing something that shouldn't be that complicated. After jailbreaking, however, there is just-as-complicated-but-better-result way to do it. I warn you that there is some FTP-ing and Database rigamarole, but, if you have messages you don't wanna lose if your phone suddenly dies or whatever, it's worth it. Step One The first step is to access your iPhone through an FTP client. Follow these easy steps to do so. Step Two After you FTP with your iPhone, navigate as follows: /var/mobile/Library/SMS. When you get to the SMS folder, download sms.db by dragging it into the folder of your choice. Once you have the file downloaded, it's time for the next step. Step Three Download the SQLite database browser of your choice. I recommend, well, the SQLite Database Browser, which is available for free for almost any operating system out there. Step Four After installing the SQLite Database Browser, open up your sms.db file. Next, click on the 'Browse Data' tab located towards the top. Select the 'message' table from the drop-down list. The result should look something like this with a bunch of gibberish and some messages sprinkled throughout: That's your SMS history. But don't worry, this next step will make it all come together into one nice, sensical package. Step 5 This is the last step, and is fairly straightforward. Now, go to File>Export>Table as CSV File. Save this file, and open it in any spreadsheet program you'd like. If you have trouble opening it as a spreadsheet, rename the file with the .csv file extension, that should help. You should now have a spreadsheet of all of your text messages, complete with dates and phone numbers. What you do with this is up to you. I know that there has to be an easier way to do this, and I have yet to find it, but I am sure that it's out there somewhere. Maybe in the near future, maybe sitting in a forum right now waiting to be found. If it turns up, I will be sure to let you know, right here. Downloading Voicemails to Your Computer: If you managed to download the SMS messages, this should be a cinch. And, chances are, if you're the kinda person who downloaded all of your text messages, you'll want to download your voicemail messages as well. Step One More FTP monkey business. Refer back to this excellent guide for help. Step Two After you FTP, navigate through to your Voicemails via this path: /private/var/mobile/Library/Voicemail. Here is where your voicemails will be sitting, just waiting to be downloaded. Step Three Dowload 'em! The voicemails will be audio files in the form of .AMR files. I know that '.AMR files' sound like they're something from a dark and mysterious land, but it's nothing that good old QuickTime can't handle. Now you don't have to feel worried about losing that SMS conversation laden with evidence, or that voicemail where your baby brother said your name for the first time. Your iPhone is an amazing device, and even better when jailbroken since you can do stuff like this: back-up interesting, personal, and important information that would otherwise be locked up in a device that will one day simply not turn on. But now you don't have to worry about that.

Related articles