[Delta]

So I want to restore my phone to factory settings but I want to save my text messages. I've found an app that allows me to export the text into a csv file but doesn't let me import it back onto my iPhone. All the other apps want money. Is there any way to accomplish this for free?

[Blademail]

If you do a complete backup via iTunes, the phone automatically saves texts. By "restoring to factory settings", do you mean you will start over completely fresh (no apps or appinfo, no photos, no contacts) or just reinstall the OS and restore files from backup?

[Delta]

If you do a complete backup via iTunes, the phone automatically saves texts. By "restoring to factory settings", do you mean you will start over completely fresh (no apps or appinfo, no photos, no contacts) or just reinstall the OS and restore files from backup?

I've done a complete backup anyway but I want to start fresh because I brought an iphone 6 a few months ago as my 5s was running slow but the backup from the 5s might be corrupted to an extent as the iphone 6 is now running slow after putting the 5s backup onto it.

[Blademail]

I've done a complete backup anyway but I want to start fresh because I brought an iphone 6 a few months ago as my 5s was running slow but the backup from the 5s might be corrupted to an extent as the iphone 6 is now running slow after putting the 5s backup onto it.

That sounds really strange to be honest. Does the backup completely fill the device?

[Delta]

That sounds really strange to be honest. Does the backup completely fill the device?

Yeah. I have a 16gb phone but the backup completely stores it. I have around 2gbs in photo which is the only big source I have.

[Blademail]

Yeah. I have a 16gb phone but the backup completely stores it. I have around 2gbs in photo which is the only big source I have.

Weird, i'm trembling in the dark now. I really didn't think the backup would slow the device down by that much, if you didn't update iOS simultaneously. (which would explain the slow phone after restore)

Good luck with the backup, i hope it works out for you.

[iPhoo]

So I want to restore my phone to factory settings but I want to save my text messages. I've found an app that allows me to export the text into a csv file but doesn't let me import it back onto my iPhone. All the other apps want money. Is there any way to accomplish this for free?

There are several ways to accomplish this,
the easiest way is to use iCloud to make a backup, by going to settings, iCloud, backup, click "Create Backup Now".

Keep in mind the SMSes are stored in a SQLite database, not in any CSV, so the CSV import is only useful for copying to another non-iOS device.

If you jailbreak your 5S you can navigate to the /var/mobile/Library/sms.db and save it.

Another way is to use a backup extractor like iBackupBot/iCopyBot.
1. Open your "corrupted 5S backup" and extract just the SMS SQLite database.
2. Move with iBackup into another clean, newer backup made by iTunes from your 6S.
3. Use iBackupBot to restore the clean, uncorrupt backup to your 6S.

You can also use 3uTools, click Toolbox, then click Migrate Data.
This should allow you migrate app data including SMS databases, but I'm not as sure about that, since I've never really used that feature of 3uTools.

There are many other methods and third-party file managers out there. Even iOS 11 has a file manager, but I doubt it allows access to the databases, those are however stored in backups by iTunes, as I mentioned earlier.

What I wonder though... maybe iOS 11 has some native export function for texts? Probably not. Perhaps you should see this as an opportunity to build your own app for exporting texts. Maybe all the other people before us had the same idea, realized it can be complicated, and decided to charge for their apps. We could always just make it ad-based to generate revenue... but really Apple should make this easier, it shouldn't be a premium service at all, it should be part of the OS like it is in Android. This is user data. It isn't proprietary app data.

Jeez, just another example of how Apple doesn't care about user's data, they always try to sing that tune, but at the end of it all, their desire to control their own software is more important than any user's freedom or convenience.

Hope this was useful. Reply or contact if you need some more tips. 👍