Due to I can´t back up my idevice because icloud back up attachments of iMessage and SMS and I have not space anymore in my 5gb icloud storage I would like to know how delete these attachments. If I delete the message the attachments are still there. I deactivate all my app data, documents, etc... and the back up size doesn´t drop down after that. Anyone can help me?
Thanks in advance
iPhone 5, iOS 6.0.2
I noticed the same thing yesterday. Every so often I save off the SMS/iMessage SQLite database and delete the messages from my iPhone/iPad.
Using iPhone Backup Extractor, I extracted the iTunes iPhone/iPad backup. In /Library/SMS/Attachments I had 160 MB of files (photos, videos, PDFs, vCards, etc.) I sent and received via iMessage. Some were nearly a year old and were deleted in the Messages app months ago. (I usually deleted attachments immediately after sending/receiving them, but now I know that is a waste of my time.) These remained after I deleted all my messages and rebooted and resynced several times.
I assume at some point these attachments get cleaned up if space is needed, but who knows. The only way I can think of to delete them is to SSH into the device and delete that folder.
Also, the sms.db does not appear to be compacted even after several reboots, so I am not sure what triggers a vacuum.
Ssh into device means jailbreaking? Because I don't wanna do it. Could be a solution delete that folder from the backup and restore the iPhone with this backup (attachements deleted)??
Open the text conversation that contains the attachments you want to delte, tap Edit, tap the attachments you want to delete, tap Delete.
That doesn't delete the attachments from the de folder ;(
As everyone else is saying, even though they may be remvoed from the messages, the attachments are still contained in the backup and on the device.
What folder? Where are they on the device after deleting them from the message?
/Library/SMS/Attachments
Interesting. Have you ever tried simply restoring the device to clear them?
Yes, but if you restore from backup it puts them right back.
I was suggesting restoring the device, then creating a new backup.
Nevermind, I see what you mean.
If I restore to create a new backup a loose all my app data
This is a sucky bug.
My iCloud backup was 255Mb. I restored iPhone to new and put every single app back on by hand music etc and now my iCloud backup is 22Mb.
The stuff that lives here Library/SMS/Attachments is not being deleted ever, and without a jailbreak your only option really is to do what I did.
Good explanation here: http://thetecherra.com/2012/10/31/are-your-icloud-backups-suspiciously-large-her es-why/?utm_source=wordtwit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=wordtwit
Could reproduce it here too. Sending/receiving lange videos shows it erfectly. OMG!
How delete attachments of iMessage and SMS?
