Free importer apps
Get your texts off your phone,
without the screenshots.
Our free app copies your messages into one file you keep, with every date, time, and sender intact. The export runs on your own device. Nothing uploads unless you decide to upload it.
The apps are finished. We are waiting on signatures.
All three apps are built and tested. Before we hand out installers, each one needs its publisher certificate, so your computer recognizes us by name instead of warning you about an unknown developer. We would rather make you wait a week than teach you to click past a security warning to use an evidence tool.
If you already have an export file, you do not have to wait. Upload it now and search it today. The apps below are for getting that file off your phone in the first place.
What is coming, and for whom
Android app
Runs on your Android phone
Gets messages off your Android and saves an XML export of your messages, saved to your phone.
- Android 10 or newer
Waiting on store review
Submitted to Google Play and waiting on review. Reviews of apps that read text messages typically take a few days.
Mac app
Runs on your Mac
Gets messages off your iPhone and saves a CSV of your messages, saved to your Mac.
- A Mac running macOS 13 or newer
- Your iPhone and its charging cable
Waiting on signing
Built and tested, waiting on our Apple developer certificate. We are not shipping an installer that makes macOS warn you about us.
Windows app
Runs on your Windows PC
Gets messages off your iPhone and saves a CSV of your messages, saved to your PC.
- Windows 10 or newer
- Your iPhone and its charging cable
- Apple Devices (free, from the Microsoft Store)
Waiting on signing
Built and tested, waiting on our Microsoft publisher identity. We are not shipping an installer that makes Windows warn you about us.
Version 0.1.5. The apps are free and uncapped. Paid deliverables live on this site, never inside the app.
Publisher: these apps come from evanparra.ai (EVANPARRA.AI LLC), the company that operates TextTimeline, and that is the publisher name they will carry on the Microsoft Store and on Google Play. If you see a TextTimeline importer published by anyone else, it is not ours.
Already have your messages as a file?
Then you can skip the app entirely. If you already have a CSV or XML export of your messages, from any source, upload it and search it right now. Everything after the export works today: unlimited search, a free preview of the court-ready transcript, and the full evidence report when you need it.
We read CSV and XML message exports, OurFamilyWizard PDFs, and Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive share links. Not sure your file will work? Email evan@texttimeline.com and we will tell you.
Tell me when the apps are ready
One email when the importer apps are signed and downloadable. Nothing else.
What the app does, and what it will not do
It does
- Copy your messages into one file, on your device, with dates, times, and senders preserved.
- Write a custody record alongside the export: what was read, when, by which version of the tool, and a checksum of the file it produced.
- Say so plainly when an export is partial, rather than letting a filtered file pass as complete.
- Delete the working copy of your phone backup when it finishes.
It does not
- Upload your messages. That is a separate, later, deliberate choice.
- Include analytics or crash reporting. The Android build ships with no internet permission whatsoever.
- Read anything on someone else's phone. It needs the device in your hand, unlocked.
- Claim to be tamper-proof or to guarantee admissibility. It produces a metadata-preserving copy of your own message store, which is a different and more honest claim.
Keep your phone and its original backup until your case is over. The export is a copy, and the original is what an expert would examine if anyone challenges it.
Questions
Do I need a computer to get my texts off my phone?
On Android, no. The Android app exports everything on the phone itself, and you can upload straight from your phone's browser. On iPhone, yes: Apple gives no app permission to read your messages, so the export has to happen once on a Mac or Windows PC with the phone plugged in.
Does the app send my messages anywhere?
No. The export runs entirely on your own device and writes a file you keep. Nothing is uploaded unless you choose to upload that file to TextTimeline afterward. The Android app ships without internet permission at all, so it is incapable of transmitting anything.
What does the app actually produce?
A single file: a CSV on Mac and Windows, an XML on Android, holding your messages with their dates, times, and senders. That is the same kind of file TextTimeline already accepts, so you can open it in Excel, keep it as your own copy, or upload it here to search and build a court-ready transcript.
Is this free?
The apps are free on every platform, with no cap on how much you export. You only pay if you want a packaged deliverable from TextTimeline afterward: $19 for a court-ready transcript, $99 for a full evidence report.
Will it get every message, including iMessage and RCS?
It reads what your phone actually stored. On iPhone that includes SMS, MMS, and iMessage from your device backup. On Android it covers SMS and MMS from the phone's message database. Newer RCS chats are not always kept in a form any export tool can reach, so treat the export as a copy of your message database rather than a guarantee of every conversation.