Archiving Texts?

[Jess Fertudei]

Samsung Galaxy J7 Sky Pro
SM-S72VL
Android 6.0.1


I have a need to save and print texts with one person for protection
purposes... i.e. a supervisor who wants to rewrite history of what he
told me to do and his texts of thanking me for doing it all (things did
not go as well as he had planned, you could say).
These texts span back about three years and the phone is getting long
in the tooth.
How can I archive these texts and for bonus points save them in some
format that I can print? Ideally I would like to share them between
desktops. Can I do it with one step or can I even do it at all?




TIA

[Carlos E. R.]

In paper and signed, preferably by witnesses. A notebook is perfect
(think lab books). Numbered pages.


--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

[Robin Goodfellow]

"Carlos E. R." <robin_...@es.invalid> asked

>> How can I archive these texts and for bonus points save them in some
>> format that I can print? Ideally I would like to share them between
>> desktops. Can I do it with one step or can I even do it at all?
>
> In paper and signed, preferably by witnesses. A notebook is perfect
> (think lab books). Numbered pages.

I use what I consider to be the best free SMS/MMS app, PulseSMS.
Pulse has the ability to archive your texts (but at a subscription rate).

I just hit the buttons inside PulseSMS and it appears this capability is in
what they call "PulsePlus", for $2/month or $20/year which contains
1. *Auto-Backup of all messages*
2. Cross-device sync
3. Unlimited SMS templates
4. Delay Sending (undo/edit)
5. Dual-SIM support
6. End-to-end encryption
7. Password protect individual conversations
8. Unlimit4ed scheduled messages
9. Customize fonts & themes
10. And more... <== gotta love the obligatory "and more".

Obviously two options you would have are:
a. Find a _free_ SMS app that does backup, or,
b. Pay the two dollars for a one-time backup

With either option, it's trivial to switch back and forth between message
apps without losing a single message (I've done it many times in testing).

Once you have the backup, it's trivial to do whatever you want with the text
messages, whether that's using them on the desktop or printing or whatever.

In summary, you can set your default SMS/MMS app to the desired
backup-capable text message app, then run your backup, and then set your
default back to your original text message app, all during the span of time
it took me to explain this to you.

They may even pro-rate the charges, so it's 1/30th of $2 for all I know.
If you're serious, you'll let us know which apps you found that do backups.

[AJL]

I save my working texts as permanent Gmail drafts. That way they are
able to be viewed and edited on ANY of my devices no matter the OS.

For example my family addresses. I have a large family and they often
change addresses. When a change occurs I just open the draft on any
device and make the change. The update is then transmitted automatically
to all my other devices and immediately able to be viewed in Gmail
'drafts' on any of them. To print, open the 3 dots bottom right and tick
'print'.

You can also attach a text file to a draft. It's the paper clip icon at
the bottom left. That file will then be available on other devices.

I always address the drafts to myself so that I don't accidentally screw
up and send them to somebody. Some of my drafts are years old. The
system works well for me. YMMV.

BTW if you're a Google paranoid as some here are then this may not be
for you...

[Robin Goodfellow]

AJL <noe...@none.com> asked

> You can also attach a text file to a draft. It's the paper clip icon at
> the bottom left. That file will then be available on other devices.

I had assumed the OP was asking about SMS texts.
Is the OP asking about some other kind of texts?

For sms text backup, we covered this a few times in the past, as I recall.
http://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android

For example this search finds a few hits (other searches may find others):
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/search?q=%22sms%20backup%22

Here's one, for example:
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/cGpaIzhl4HI/m/zZtxe0v9nYgJ

And another:
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/QjB_RzPp3q4/m/fDCdGLqmAwAJ

I think the OP may need to clarify what he means by "text" as I was assuming
SMS/MMS messages, but maybe he literally meant text files in the filesystem?

[Andy Burns]

AJL wrote:

> Jess Fertudei wrote:
>
>> I have a need to save and print texts
>

> I save my working texts as permanent Gmail drafts.

I think people are misinterpreting "texts" to mean emails, when the O/P
means SMS messages?

I use "SMS backup and restore" by "SyncTech Pty Ltd" which also backs up
phone call history

<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riteshsahu.SMSBackupRestore>

It can schedule uploads to e.g. google drive.

The o/p needs to consider that once the SMS messages are uploaded,
they're just an XML file and there's nothing to prove they haven't been
edited ...

[AJL]

On 9/16/2021 8:51 AM, Andy Burns wrote:
> AJL wrote:
>> Jess Fertudei wrote:

>>> I have a need to save and print texts

>> I save my working texts as permanent Gmail drafts.

> I think people are misinterpreting "texts" to mean emails, when the
> O/P means SMS messages?

Yup. I read it too fast. The OP obviously meant SMS. Cancel my
dissertation...

[Jess Fertudei]

Sorry, I do mean SMS text conversations on my phone. I guess the xml
thing could be a problem, but some sort of backup is better than no
backup at all.
Must these be uploaded to cloud? I do not trust or use cloud services
and especially would not use Google. I would like to keep them on the
desktop without them going anywhere else I do not want them to go.
Also... is the app certain to not wipe anything out by accident?
Is there something native to the Samsung text app that is right under
my nose?

[Andy Burns]

Jess Fertudei wrote:

> Sorry, I do mean SMS text conversations on my phone. I guess the xml
> thing could be a problem, but some sort of backup is better than no
> backup at all.
> Must these be uploaded to cloud?

No, initially they are just exported onto the phone itself, the uploads
to various clouds are optional.

[Carlos E. R.]

On 17/09/2021 00.47, Jess Fertudei wrote:
> Andy Burns wrote on 9/16/2021 :
>> AJL wrote:
>>
>>> Jess Fertudei wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have a need to save and print texts
>>>
>>> I save my working texts as permanent Gmail drafts.
>>
>> I think people are misinterpreting "texts" to mean emails, when the
>> O/P means SMS messages?
>>
>> I use "SMS backup and restore" by "SyncTech Pty Ltd" which also backs
>> up phone call history
>>
>> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riteshsahu.SMSBackupRestore>
>>
>>
>> It can schedule uploads to e.g. google drive.
>>
>> The o/p needs to consider that once the SMS messages are uploaded,
>> they're just an XML file and there's nothing to prove they haven't
>> been edited ...
>
> Sorry, I do mean SMS text conversations on my phone. I guess the xml
> thing could be a problem, but some sort of backup is better than no
> backup at all.

Then the extraction (copy sms from the phone) must be notarized and done
by a lab registered to do this, if you want their validity to stand.

Lacking that, people do screenshots from the phone.

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

[sms]

At this point, screen shots may be your only option.

There are SMS applications that allow archiving. Or if you have your
main phone number ported to Google Voice then you'd have an archive of
all your SMS. But those won't work retroactively.

On 9/16/2021 3:39 AM, Jess Fertudei wrote: