What type of database is the iOS 5 SMS db?
I've literally been trying to crack this for an hour. With previous versions of iOS, the db was a simple sqlite file and could be opened with any sqlite utility. I really need access to these messages and I'm at a loss on how to open the database.
Note: I've pulled the file off of the iTunes backup.
I've pulled my sms.db file of my iPhone 4S running iOS 5.0.1 (of off live system using scp) and was able to browse the DB as normal using the sqlite client included with OSX Lion. Possibly the current format is somehow incompatible with older versions of the client. The version of the client included with Lion is 3.7.7:
$ sqlite3 sms.db
SQLite version 3.7.7 2011-06-25 16:35:41
Enter ".help" for instructions
Enter SQL statements terminated with a ";"
sqlite> .databases
seq name file
--- --------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
0 main /Users/tyr/sms.db
sqlite> .tables
_SqliteDatabaseProperties message
drafts msg_group
group_member msg_pieces
madrid_attachment settings
madrid_chat templates
sqlite> select * from settings ;
1|version|2.0.0
2|notificationCode|*N#
3|useNotifications|0
4|isDefault|1
5|compatibilityMode|0
6|useKeybCorr|1
7|useKeybCapi|1
8|useConfirmSend|1
9|nameorder|0
10|useShowAlerts|1
11|useStatusIcon|1
12|landscape|0
13|appSerial|0
14|lastMenu|0
sqlite>
You're right - it does look like an SQLite file. The header looks similar to a SQLite 3 file I had a look at:
SQLite format 3^@^P^
I assume you've tried version 3 of SQLite?
http://www.sqlite.org/version3.html
It seems the SQLite 3 database format has something that some clients do not like.
In Windows, you can extract the data with SQLite3Explorer http://www.singular.gr/sqlite/
For windows user, In case someone still has problem reading ios 5, sms database, download an sqlite administrator app from here but.. replace its sqlite dll from sqlite org site