mobi007
Level 1 (1 points)

Q: move sms from iPhone to mac and then back to another iPhone

Hi,

 

I just got tansee (free trial) and transferred my SMS's to my mac from an iphone 4

 

Does the program have an option to transfer files FROM Mac back to another Iphone?

 

See i need to get my sms's from my old iphone 4 to my new 4s.

 

I can not restore from back up cos i did that initially and battery was dying out so the guys at apple store asked me to set it up as new (which fixed battery issue) and get my data (calenders, contacts, phontos, notes) via the cloud. I got everything back except my Messages and i really need them

 

I already tried touchcopy and phoneview but to no avail.

 

Thanks for everyone's help.

iPhone 4S, iOS 5.0.1, Macbook pro

Posted on Feb 21, 2012 9:29 PM

by diesel vdub,Solvedanswer
diesel vdub diesel vdub
Level 7 (22,030 points)
A:

But they do allow backup of messages... it's included in the iPhone backup.  Unfortunately, in your situation, there is an issue with the backup that is causing undesirable battery drain.

 

It would be nice if SMS/MMS could be synced or backed up seperately so they could be restored to a new phone seperately, unfortunately no phone OS makes this possible (to my knowledge).  Instead, if the messages are desired to be saved for any reason, copying them to a note or email and emailing it to yourself is the "best" solution for now.

Posted on Feb 22, 2012 4:17 PM

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mobi007

Q: move sms from iPhone to mac and then back to another iPhone

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  • by deggie,Helpful

    deggie deggie Feb 21, 2012 10:40 PM in response to mobi007
    Level 9 (54,409 points)
    Feb 21, 2012 10:40 PM in response to mobi007

    I've had no trouble at all using Phoneview to copy messages to a computer and then on to a new phone. Do you have the paid version?

  • by mobi007,

    mobi007 mobi007 Feb 21, 2012 10:45 PM in response to deggie
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Feb 21, 2012 10:45 PM in response to deggie

    Hey, thanks for the reply.

     

    Yes i have the paid copy running on mac.

     

    However, i am only able to move it back to the phone into the disk folder from the left.

    If you choose the messages folder from left toolbar, the Copy to Iphone icon dissappears.

     

    When moving it to disk, you cant really access it on the phone.

     

    What format did you save your messages as? text/ pdf etc???

     

    Am i doing something wrong?

     

    Thanks again

     

    Mobi007

  • by deggie,Helpful

    deggie deggie Feb 21, 2012 10:49 PM in response to mobi007
    Level 9 (54,409 points)
    Feb 21, 2012 10:49 PM in response to mobi007

    I saved them as plain text. I don't think there should be a problem with doing this to a 4s but you might want to check with ecamm and see if this is an issue. If you saved them as PDF I know that it will not work.

  • by mobi007,

    mobi007 mobi007 Feb 21, 2012 10:53 PM in response to deggie
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Feb 21, 2012 10:53 PM in response to deggie

    Ok great. I'll give it a shot.

    Just a few questions though - when you moved the text file back into your iphone, which icon did you choose from the left toolbar? The messages icon or the disk icon and were you able to view those "transferred" messages on your iphone via the messages app?

     

    Sorry for the extra questions but i really need those **** messages on my 4s!

     

    Thanks

  • by deggie,

    deggie deggie Feb 21, 2012 10:55 PM in response to mobi007
    Level 9 (54,409 points)
    Feb 21, 2012 10:55 PM in response to mobi007

    Messages. Did it for a friend who moved them from a 3Gs to a replacement 3Gs, never go the chance to confirm.

     

    Why do you actually need the messages on the 4s?

  • by mobi007,

    mobi007 mobi007 Feb 21, 2012 11:17 PM in response to deggie
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Feb 21, 2012 11:17 PM in response to deggie

    ok I just tried it again.

     

    When I click on Copy to Iphone, finder opens up, i chose the txt file with all messages but it brings it into phoneview under the Disk tab. I tried CSV and XML as well but they are nowehere on the phone neither in messages app or anywhere else. (btw my phone is not jailbroken so no root access)

     

    I tried dragging the messages.txt file from the disk tab to the messages tab but it doesnt accept it.

    Also, when the messages tab is highlighted there is no option to (Copy to iphone). Also this feature is disabled in the drop down file menu.

     

     

    I need the messages cos they have lengthy conversations with business partners with "very" important info that i need to have on me and i cannot just save it as a note or txt as the interactions (questions / answers) between us and the flow  of the convo is really important.

     

    Thanx deggie for the support thus far. I guess i ll email phoneview support and see what they say. If you have any further pointers, let me know. -

  • by deggie,

    deggie deggie Feb 21, 2012 11:24 PM in response to mobi007
    Level 9 (54,409 points)
    Feb 21, 2012 11:24 PM in response to mobi007

    Disregard, just read the Phoneview FAQ and you cannot restore them as an SMS to the phone, confirmed this with the person with the 3Gs, they were not there.

     

    What you might want to try next is see if there is any software that will let you manipulate a backup file, i.e., you can extract data from a backup file with certain apps do a Google search and see if there is one that will let your create such a file.

     

    Only other thought is to print them and refer to them or save them as PDFs, use a WiFi app to move them to your new phone, and read them in GoodReader.

  • by deggie,

    deggie deggie Feb 21, 2012 11:27 PM in response to mobi007
    Level 9 (54,409 points)
    Feb 21, 2012 11:27 PM in response to mobi007

    and you can try this: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20090624022758268

  • by mobi007,

    mobi007 mobi007 Feb 21, 2012 11:28 PM in response to deggie
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Feb 21, 2012 11:28 PM in response to deggie

    great thanks - ill check them out

  • by mobi007,

    mobi007 mobi007 Feb 22, 2012 12:25 AM in response to deggie
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 12:25 AM in response to deggie

    Hey - just tried following that article. it seemed like it would work but when i restored from backup, itunes detected that the messages file 3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28 had been messed around with and gave me an error: "itunes can not restore from this backup as one or several files has been corrupted.

     

    (The article above refers to iphone 3g and 3gs so maybe now itunes can tell if the file is for a 4 or 4s)

     

     

    oh so close

  • by mobi007,

    mobi007 mobi007 Feb 22, 2012 12:28 AM in response to mobi007
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 12:28 AM in response to mobi007

    i just think Apple should allow back up of their messages along with the contacts, notes, calenders and reminders. I mean why skip messages

  • by diesel vdub,Solvedanswer

    diesel vdub diesel vdub Feb 22, 2012 4:17 PM in response to mobi007
    Level 7 (22,030 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 4:17 PM in response to mobi007

    But they do allow backup of messages... it's included in the iPhone backup.  Unfortunately, in your situation, there is an issue with the backup that is causing undesirable battery drain.

     

    It would be nice if SMS/MMS could be synced or backed up seperately so they could be restored to a new phone seperately, unfortunately no phone OS makes this possible (to my knowledge).  Instead, if the messages are desired to be saved for any reason, copying them to a note or email and emailing it to yourself is the "best" solution for now.

  • by mobi007,

    mobi007 mobi007 Feb 22, 2012 4:23 PM in response to diesel vdub
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 4:23 PM in response to diesel vdub

    hey diesel thanks for the info

     

    Thanks deggie for the info

  • by mobi007,

    mobi007 mobi007 Feb 22, 2012 5:25 PM in response to mobi007
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 5:25 PM in response to mobi007

    Ok this is what i tried but it did not work:

     

    went to ...MobileSync\Backup of old phone

     

    and copied the sms backup file named:

     

    "3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28" (there was no mddata or mdbackup extensions)

     

    I then tried to copy & replace the:

     

    3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28 in the iphone 4S back up

     

    Then i restored from back up making sure to choose the right 4S backup file, but iTunes showed an error saying data was corrupted and the old messages did not come onto the new phone.

     

    Does iTunes hash the backup data, can it tell that the same sms file is from another phone? Is there a way around it if I copy and paste the following files:

    Info.plist

    Manifest.plist

    Status.plist

     

    as mentioned in some other forums? is that dangerous since I want to keep all my NEW 4S data intact when i restore from backup.

    Apparantly this worked according to this:

    http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/%25252520download%25252520piarco%2 5252520/t-1264976.html

    but a full wipe of all data is required.

    Is there a way around this?


    Both phones 4 and 4s are NOT jailbroken and I am not interested in saving sms to computer via 3rd party software. I want old messages in new phone. I dont care for the messages already on the new iphone 4s
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