iMessage

Schema

File: imessage-001.json

{
  "company": "Apple",
  "name": "iMessage",
  "runID": "imessage-001-1731702239127",
  "timestamp": 1731702239127,
  "content": [
    {
      "id": 349530,
      "text": "Message text",
      "timestamp": "Timestamp of message",
      "contact": "Name of contact",
      "is_from_me": true
    },
    ...
  ]
}

Export Process

Mac:

Steps:

• The app uses the 'chat.db' file on the Mac to extract the messages, as well as the 'AddressBook-v22.abcddb' file to extract the contacts.
• The app runs SQL queries on these files to extract the messages and contacts and merge them into a single JSON file.

Files for reference:

• imessage.ts
• imessage_mac.py

Windows:

Steps:

• The app takes in the path of the iPhone backup file and requires a password to decrypt it.
• The app uses the iphone_backup_decrypt library to decrypt the backup file.
• The app runs SQL queries on the decrypted backup file to extract the messages and contacts and merge them into a single JSON file.

Files for reference:

• imessage.ts
• imessage_windows.py