What happens to your SMS/MMS messages when you delete your messaging app

[Andy Burnelli]

Somehow I accidentally updated an app which in this case was the Klinker
PulseSMS app which, in my tests, is, by far, the best SMS app on Android.
<https://i.postimg.cc/1tjcm7KJ/pulsesms03.jpg>

Unfortunately, PulseSMS was bought by an sham company in October of 2020.
*Pulse SMS has been bought by Maple Media - get ready for intrusive ads?*
<https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/10/29/it-looks-like-pulse-sms-has-been-bought-by-maple-media-get-ready-for-intrusive-ads/>

The last known good version is apparently 5.4.6.2816 based on this thread:
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/qb2AY1ulH6M>

When I tried to backdate the later PulseSMS with an earlier app, it failed.
To backdate the app, I had to resort to deleting the entire PulseSMS app.

It had plenty of messages and I assumed the messages would be lost.
I didn't worry about that though as I was willing to lose them.
Hence I didn't even bother to reset the default messaging app.

And yet, the SMS/MMS messages were not lost (the order changed slightly).

Just as when you delete your contacts app, the contacts remain in the
default location which, for contacts, is an sqlite database of your choice.
<https://www.techbone.net/samsung/user-manual/default-storage-location>
<https://frameboxxindore.com/apple/how-do-i-change-where-my-contacts-are-saved-on-android.html>
<https://www.tenorshare.com/android/where-are-contacts-stored-on-android.html>

I wonder where text messages are stored and whether that can be changed.
This hit says the messages are stored differently depending on the version.
<https://www.fonepaw.com/tips/where-are-text-messages-stored-android.html>
<https://www.tenorshare.com/android-recovery/where-are-text-messages-stored-on-android.html>
<https://www.mobikin.com/android-backup/where-are-texts-stored-on-android.html>
<https://www.samsung-messages-backup.com/resources/where-are-texts-stored-on-android.html>
For Android 7 and above, apparently the SMS messages are stored in
/data/user_de/0/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db

That article implies there's no set location for MMS content, although
PulseSMS automatically saves media to wherever you want them to be saved.

Anyway, the datbase may be readable by an sqlite viewer even if you're not
rooted (as that's pretty much what a messaging app is, isn't it?).
<https://forums.androidcentral.com/verizon-droid-incredible-2/160911-where-sms-messages-stored.html>

Interestingly, the only things I noticed that were different before I
deleted PulseSMS is that some messages seemed out of order while none had
their contact names (since I don't have a contact database) anymore.

The contact names inside the PulseSMS app were wiped out when I deleted the
PulseSMS app so contact names are stored separately from the phone numbers.

If you have more detail to explain the issues that came up, please do.
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