Sync old iMessage conversations from iPhone to new iPad & Mac?

HI,

In Messages Beta it was possible to "Start" syncing by two methods.

The first (Which I did) involved removing all the Messages that were on the iPhone which created a "Start Point" and everything synced from there.

The Second method which was reported by some was to turn the iPhone Off then On again.

It may works if Messages on the device is turned Off and then On again rather that the whole phone.

Of course having done the first I couldn't test the second.

9:56 PM Saturday; September 22, 2012

Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.2)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and and iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

I have exactly the same issue: New messages are synced. The old messages are only on the iPhone...

Turning he iPhone off and on again does not seem to have any impact.

Hi,

I have used the Forward Method.

You can highlight each message (or a group of Messages or the whole conversation) and then either delete or Forward.

If you forward it it becomes one bit of text (Rather than both sides of the conversation) when sent to the Apple ID (And therefore Messages on the Mac)

It was very unsatisfactory.

9:49 PM Sunday; September 23, 2012

Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.2)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and and iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Ralph,

that is an interesting approach. You are right that it is unsatisfactory, though.

Andreas

hi, did u ever figure out how to sync old msgs on ipad? thank you

Hi,

For me this was very early on in my Mountain Lion days.

I would now say that you cannot sync iMessages from an iOS device that were sent before your linked any Apple ID with the iPhone Number or added the Mac to the use of the Apple ID.

At the point at which and Apple ID is used on both an iPad and the Mac version of Messages becomes it's "Start date"

The same can be said for adding an Apple ID to an iPhone and the Mac.

On the Mac all messages can be saved if you wish.

This are in the .ichat format which you can send to Mac Buddies and then can open them and read them as if they were the chat (i.e they display as "chats').

There appears to be no way in iTunes to access the iMessages (or SMS ones) on the iPhone.

Someone who knows more about the iOS may be able to tell you if they are accessible another way.

8:52 PM Friday; May 24, 2013

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.3)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

I am in a similar situation and have imessage content on my ipad and would like to transfer it to my new ipad mini. It seems odd that everything syncs like the notes, contacts, and reminders; but the messages don't sync to the new device. Anyone figure anything out besides the mentioned forwarding option which bundles everything into 1 message?

My understanding is iMessage doesn't really "sync" per se because, unlike notes or contacts, messages aren't stored in the cloud after they're delivered. So not only is it impossible to sync old messages on a new device, but if iMessage gets glitchy (as it often does) and fails to deliver a message to a device that it's supposed to, there's no way to sync after the fact. Same reason why deleting messages on one device doesn't delete them on another.

If you're familiar with email, iMessage is more like POP than IMAP. With POP, you can have a message delivered to multiple devices, but once it's delivered, those devices don't communicate with each other.