iSMS2droid - SMS & iMessages transfer

iSMS2droid allows you to transfer all your SMS texts and iMessages from an Apple iPhone backup into the messaging application on Android devices – at no cost!

It is important to note that this application is compatible only with unencrypted SMS databases. If your backups are encrypted, you will need to turn off encryption and create a new backup. You can reactivate encryption after completing the import process.

--- Instructions ---

Step 1) Refer to the official site for comprehensive guidance on how to retrieve your iPhone SMS database, then transfer it to your Android phone using methods like USB cable or cloud storage.

Step 2) Launch iSMS2droid and select "Import Messages" to choose the file containing your iPhone SMS database.

Step 3) Decide whether you want to import all messages or choose specific conversations by contact.

Step 4) If you are satisfied with the app, consider leaving a rating or review on Google Play.

If you encounter any problems with the app, please reach out for assistance rather than submitting a poor rating or review, as such feedback is not beneficial for either party! ;-)

Where can i find my iPhone backups?

Windows: C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

OSX: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

Which files do i need to copy to my Android phone?

If you want just your messages, you only need to copy one single file, which can be found in your iTunes backup folder (see above), and that is the file

3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28 in the folder 3d

If you want your call log, you need to copy the file 5a4935c78a5255723f707230a451d79c540d2741 from the folder 54. (For older iOS versions it's called 2b2b0084a1bc3a5ac8c27afdf14afb42c61a19ca.

My backup folder does not contain that file!

If your backup folder does not contain the backup file of the message database, you haven't received or sent any messages since the last time you created a backup.

Please check the older backup folders, starting with the one that has the most recent timestamp at the end, and search for the file in those.

If you don't have any other backup folders, and are absolutely sure that the file you are looking for is nowhere to be found (e.g. if you deleted those older backups), you can just send a new messages to someone (or call someone, if you need for the call log database),

and then create a new backup, which should then contain the file you need to copy.

If you are using an older version of iOS, the call logs file is called 2b2b0084a1bc3a5ac8c27afdf14afb42c61a19ca.

The app says "Storage Error - Could not cache the database"

This is a very strange issue, but luckily it's easy to fix: Just rename the database file(s) to something other than the original/suggested filenames, like MyMessagesFile.

This prevents the app from finding the file automatically, so it will then ask you to select it manually - after which everything should work as expected.

The app says my file is encrypted!

In over 10 years of supporting this app, there hasn't been a single support request for this error message where the reason wasn't either a encrypted backup, or a completely wrong file. Please double-check the encryption setting for your backups in iTunes, and/or do a search for the exact filename in your backup folder.

Does the app support MMS or iMessage attachments?

No, the app only supports the plain text body of both SMS/MMS and iMessages. For a detailed explanation, please have a look at the next question.

Why are there no images in my messages?

If you receive a SMS message or plain-text iMessage, your iPhone takes the text body and saves it (together with some metadata) into its message database. This also happens when you receive a MMS message (or iMessage with attachments), but when saving the text body and metadata into the message database, it also downloads the attachments and saves them into a specific folder on your iPhones filesystem, and then puts the path to those attachments into a separate table in the message database.

This means we now have the text body and the information about its attachments in the database - but we don't have the attachment files themselves. When you create a backup of your iPhone, those attachments get also backed up to your computer, but each one as a separate files with a cryptic filename that is based on the path of the file on your phone.

It would theoretically be possible to also import the attachments, but that would require you to copy your whole iTunes backup folder to your Android phone, as it is impossible to predict which files from your backup are message attachments until iSMS2droid actually opens the message database and starts importing.

I am thinking about making it a two-step process: first step scans the database for attachments and generates a list of additional files you would need to copy, and the second step would be the actual import of the messages including attachments - after you copied the additional files.

Unfortunately i'm not in possesion of an iPhone anymore, so i can't really fully develop this feature, as it would require extensive testing with real backups.

My group messages have been split up!

Android does not support group messages, so all messages from a group chats you had on your iPhone are imported like direct conversations with the respective sender/recipient.