With text messages and iMessages being such an important form of communication between people, it doesn’t make much sense that there’s no easy way to store them and back them up. They’re backed up when making backups through iTunes or iCloud, but if you have to wipe your device clean, then they’re lost forever. And because of the personal and private nature of these messages, important ones can be lost, unlike email which exists on cloud servers. Now, there is a way to backup your SMS and iMessages manually. Note that this guide will require you to be at a computer with iTunes, and to poke around some hidden directories. If you’re comfortable with this, let’s begin.

Start by making a full manual backup in iTunes of your device. Re-read our previous guide on backing up your device on how to do this.

Now then, the fun part. We need to go into where the backup is stored. On Windows PCs, this location has to be accessed by opening a local Explorer window, and typing in %APPDATA% (a shortcut to your Windows primary hard drive’s Users/[your username]/Application Data folder). On Mac, open up a Finder window. Hold down the Option key, click Go in the top bar, and select the Library folder that now appears. It only appears when you hold down the Option key. The necessary folder will not be visible if you just go to the Library folder from your Mac on the left sidebar in Finder. Open Application Support.

Now, on either OS, open up MobileSync -> Backup. Open up the most recent folder, as that should be your latest backup.

Look for a file called 3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28. It may or may not have a file extension on it. Copy this file to a safe place.

Now, if you just open it up in a text editor, the file will be full of gibberish but you can search for text strings and they will pop up. It’s largely unreadable, but it’s something.

Now, if you want them available in a readable format, this can be done. Go to http://iphone-sms.com. Upload that file you just saved, and choose an export format. Note that you are uploading your message data to a remote website, so if you’re concerned about the privacy of your data, you might want to be careful, though there’s no known risk factors with the site. Also, the file doesn’t include picture data, so you might want to save those to your Camera Roll manually.

So, that’s how you get your SMS and iMessages backed up. It’s not easy, but it’s a way to preserve your treasured messages. Or not-so-treasured ones. Such is the beauty of text messaging.

This week’s how to was inspired by a recent conversation I had with my family. My mom got an iPad, and she wanted to use it to keep in touch with the rest of her family, who all use iOS devices in some capacity. My dad set her up with a free texting app, but I wondered why not use iMessage? He didn’t even know what that was. It seems as if casual users are not entirely aware of what iMessage is and what it can do.

iMessages are messages similar to SMS that are sent through the Messages app on iOS 5 and later. They can be sent over wifi or a user’s data plan, instead of using up a messaging plan. iMessages can be sent to a person’s email address that they have registered with iMessage. iPhone users can register their phone number to receive iMessages, and the app can send out both traditional SMS messages and iMessages. SMS messages are represented by green bubbles, iMessage are blue bubbles.

iMessage makes it easy to to send photos and videos to friends. Also, there’s no character limit for iMessages, which is a blessing and a curse. iMessages carry across devices, so a conversation can be started on iPhone andreplied to on iPad and even on Macs with Mountain Lion. Messages can be sent while on wifi, if mobile data is unavailable on the iPhone.

To ensure iMessage is working, go to Settings, Messages, and ensure that it’s turned on. From this menu, it’s possible to enable different email addresses to receive iMessages at, and the default ID from which they will appear.

Don’t know if someone is an iMessage user? Create a new message, start typing in their phone number or email address, and the device will look up to see if they’re registered. Their name bubble will first be gray with a spinning circle. It turns blue if the user is registered, and red with an exclamation point if their email address is not registered.

A handy tip that many users don’t know about is to resend an iMessage as an SMS. Just tap and hold on the message bubble until a dialog to “Resend as SMS” appears. This is handy if the person being messaged is out of data range, or uses an Android phone along with their iPad or iPod touch. If iMessage becomes too complicated to use, it can also be disabled by turning it off from the iMessage settings menu. However, it’s worth leaving enabled for the benefits it provides.

It’s an expensive business keeping in touch with friends via cell phones. Even with the advances of technology and the changes in price plans, it still costs a small fortune to call a friend in another country.

While some users might want to go the Skype route, others might fancy a change. That change is called Voypi.

It’s an app that allows users to call or text other Voypi users anywhere in the world for free. There’s not even the irritatation of ad banners getting in the way!

Voypi is always on so users are always connected to others just like a regular mobile phone network, but according to the developers the phone battery isn’t affected negatively by this.

It also works with the phone’s contact list making it easy to find friends without having to set up a separate account.

Voypi works over 3g and Wi-Fi and it’s available now for the grand total of nothing. Why not give it a whirl?

FREE!

Voypi - Call Background Sounds

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-05-17 :: Category: Utilities

Tired of paying to send text messages? Then you might want to check out TextNow from Enflick.

TextNow allows you to send and receive text messages from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to any other mobile number for free. When you first start up the app, you set up a free account with the service and you’re given a phone number to send texts from. When you send a message to another number, it’ll show the message as being sent from your new TextNow number – making it indistinguishable from a text message sent over the iPhone’s actual SMS app. What’s more, the app also allows you to send pictures for free too (but not video, unfortunately).

The app uses Wi-Fi or 3G to send your messages, so you’re able to use it even if you aren’t paying for SMS support from AT&T or Verizon. This makes the app a legitimate option for those who don’t want to pay for text messaging but still want to be able to text message.

The app itself is designed impressively well. It’s sleek, functional and easy to use. Also, there are some nice extras. For example, you can change your conversation background to any picture in your Photos gallery or choose from a selection of included choices.

You might be wondering, “How’s this free?” While there is no catch – it’s actually totally free – the app is ad-supported, so you’ll have to put up with some advertisements along the way if you want free text messaging.

In addition to offering free text messaging, TextNow also offers premium voice features that allow you to make phone calls and receive voicemails from within the app. This allows you to use either your iPod Touch or iPad to make phone calls. But unlike the free texting, though, this service will cost you a fee.

Head over to the iTunes App Store to download TextNow for free.

FREE!

TextNow Classic - Free Text + Calls : Free Texting Picture Messaging Phone Calling and Phone Number

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2009-05-07 :: Category: Social Networking

As far as texting apps go, we have no shortage of options. There’s textPlus, TextNow, textfree, and plenty of others. However, the developers Borange and atebits (developer of Tweetie) are teaming up to enter the arena with a new app named Textie.

So, what does Textie bring to the table? It can send messages to other Textie users, email addresses, and most mobile phones; it’s free; push notifications are included; and it can handle photos, too. But the real draw here is its user interface. As you’d expect given the developers (atebits’ Tweetie client is set to become Twitter’s official app), the user interface is stellar, and careful attention has been paid to detail. While the app’s feature list isn’t bursting with bullet points, the app handles texts quickly and cleanly. Your “inbox” looks more like the standard Mail app than a third-party application, and in my book, that’s a great thing!

Of course, there are at least a dozen solid texting apps in the App Store. But Textie is free, simple, and elegant. If you don’t have a free-texting app yet, be sure to grab Textie and take it for a spin. (Just make sure you have a data plan!) The app claims to support a number of carriers, including AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and more, but excluding T-Mobile in the US.

FREE!

Textie Messaging - Beautiful free text chat unlimited (SMS)

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-04-27 :: Category: Social Networking

OneConnect is an attempt by Yahoo! to unify all of the social networks you use into one application. They have released this pretty interesting looking application to the iTunes App Store now. Downloading now…

Features:
* Get a full-featured phone book that can integrate contacts from your Yahoo! Address Book, iPhone, and your social networks (including: Bebo, Dopplr, Facebook, Flickr, Friendster, hi5, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube).
* Connect with your friends via Yahoo! Messenger or SMS. Have fun with emoticons, avatars, and photos.
* See what’s happening on your favorite social networks with an at-a-glance view of status updates, photo uploads, and more.
* Find your favorite people quickly and call, message, or send an e-mail—with one tap.

[ Read More @ Yahoo! ]