XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11, alt.comp.os.windows-10
From: mariasophia@comprehension.com
Privacy is a million things where most people only know four or five of those
million things, and just one of those million things that most people don't
know is to keep their contacts sqlite database completely empty on Android.
Given most people don't know much about privacy, they can easily
back up both their Contacts and SMS/MMS messages from PC to Windows.
Even with the privacy-added intelligent constraints of...
I. No Cloud Storage (for the obvious privacy reasons)
II. No Google Account on the phone (for immense privacy advantages)
III. No Internet whatsoever (as privacy is always the name of the game)
IV. No root (as privacy is easy once you have the device rooted)
V. Shizuku is installed but it lost access to /data/data on A12+
Android 12+ protects the raw SQLite Contacts & SMS/MMS databases.
SMS/MMS messages are saved in the root-only "mmssms.db" database.
[/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db]
Contacts are saved in the root-protected "contacts2.db" database.
[/data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/contacts2.db]
Yet both can be backed up, even on non-root Android 12+, because
Android provides official system APIs that allow apps to read and
write this data without ever touching the database files directly.
If you have the right (free) app that does the job, that is.
That is, Android blocks direct file access but exposes controlled,
permission-based Content Providers for SMS/MMS and Contacts.
Given that apps cannot access the database files, to back them up
we need apps that can access the data through system-controlled APIs.
Because we cannot copy the sqlite db without root, let's try a free
app that has that those Android-sanctioned system-controlled,
permission-based APIs to extract our messages & contacts safely,
then stores them in a format we can copy to your PC and back.
*SMS Backup & Restore*
Backing up is only the first half the story, which will be shown below.
The real power comes from being able to restore your data,
but I'll show that process later, when I get the new phone.
1. Install SMS Backup & Restore using the APK or the Play Store URL:
Note: I download & install that app from Window w/o using
a Google Account, but most people will log into the site.
(Alas, as I said, privacy is a million things, but most
only know about four or five of those million things.)
2. Open the app (I do it from Windows) on the old phone.
3. Select Backup.
4. Select SMS messages.
5. (Optional) Deselect Call logs.
6. Choose backup location:
a. SD card
b. Internal storage
c. ADB pull later
7. When you start the backup, it asks you where to put it.
Using my real filespec, the XML file will be written to...
Save to: /storage/0CA4-352D/0001/bck/
Note: By design, I keep a top-level folder of "0000" for the
internal sdcard and "0001" for the external sdcard so that
I can recognize them instantly & so that I put all my data
*only* in those two folders (privacy is a million things!).
Make sure you see the message stating the backup is proceeding:
Backing up messages... 1/33409 Messages
Wait for this to finish (mine took about a half hour or so).
8. You will see a "View Backup" prompt after it finishes.
The top entry for my results is listed as...
Feb 4, 2026 9:21:35PM - 33409 messages - 3.3 GB
sms-20260204212135.xml
9. When I tap it, I get "Analyzing file..." which eventually brings
up all the messages in a long human-readable format with options
a. Restore this Conversation
b. Remove this Conversation
c. Dial Number
d. Send New Message
e. Share
f. Copy to Clipboard
g. Print Conversation
10. Confirm from Windows that the backup file exists on Android.
C:\> adb shell ls /storage0CA4-352D/0001/bck/
11. Now copy the backup over Wi-Fi from Android to your PC:
Note that USB ADB & Wi-Fi ADB sometimes mount storage differently
and since my USB is flaky, let's force it to use Wi-Fi adb mounts.
C:\> adb -s 192.168.1.4:33467 pull /storage/0CA4-352D/0001/
ck/sms-20260204212135.xml
[ 1%] /storage/0CA4-352D/0001/bck/sms-20260204212135.xml
[ 28%] /storage/0CA4-352D/0001/bck/sms-20260204212135.xml
[100%] /storage/0CA4-352D/0001/bck/sms-20260204212135.xml
12. Check that the files are what you'd expect to see.
a. The files exist
b. The filenames look correct
c. The file sizes make sense
d. The XML structure is valid
e. The number of messages roughly matches what the app reported
C:\> dir H:\AndroidBackup\SMS
How to transfer the SMS backup to the new phone.
A. When the new phone arrives:
a. Complete initial setup but don't worry about the default SMS/MMS.
b. Install SMS Backup & Restore:
B. Copy the XML backup file from Windows onto the new phone:
a. Using ADB over Wi-Fi.
C:\> adb push SMS-Backup-XXXX.xml /sdcard/SMSBackupRestore/
b. Or drag-and-drop via USB (because now the USB port will be working!)
C. Open SMS Backup & Restore.
a. Select Restore.
b. Choose the XML file you transferred.
c. The app will request to become the Default SMS App temporarily.
Accept this (Android requires it for SMS restore).
D. Start the restore by pressing the "Restore Now" button.
Wait for restore to finish.
E. When prompted, switch your preferred SMS app back to the default,
or, in my situation, switch it back to the last known good version
of PulseSMS, but all your "Conversation settings" will be gone.
(This means I need a better way to privately save contacts!)
Result:
I. All SMS/MMS messages restored to the new phone
II. Timestamps preserved
III. Thread grouping preserved
IV. Incoming/outgoing preserved
V. No root required
VI. No impossible /data/data sqlite database copying required
VII. No manual conversion required
N.B.
I. Android blocks direct copying of mmssms.db without root
II. However, SMS Backup & Restore is one reliable non-root method
III. The XML file is the format Android accepts via its SMS API
[continued in next message]
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
|
