One of the more commonly reported complaints about the iPhone’s SMS scheme is the text message storage limit. While the iPhone offers a significant amount of free memory, the number of text messages that can be stored is capped at 1000. This cap, of course, prompts the iPhone’s friendly reminder: “Your SMS mailbox is almost full. Please delete some messages.”
To combat this dearth of text storage space, software developer Vaughn Cordero has developed the “MobileSyncBrowser,” a Mac OS X tool that allows you to view the backups of SMS text messages and optionally export them. This utility enables you to delete messages from your phone while keeping them archived on your computer. MobileSyncBrowser can also backup notes and call history every time you sync.
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MSB has come a long way since this was published!! Read on:
Recent Versions, Press Releases MobileSyncBrowser 3.0 is the latest and most advanced version of the iPhone backup utility. Reviews for MobileSyncBrowser have been consistently positive, and when a user encounters a glitch, MSB’s developer, Vaughn S. Cordero, avails himself by phone or email to help the customer step by step. Who uses MSB? Setting aside the argument that it is better to have a backup and not need it, than to need it and not have it, the original MSB users ranged from business executives who need to keep track of and produce hard-copy evidence of their communications, to the iPhone owner whose device was stolen or broken, to concerned parents wanting to keep track of their children’s online contacts and friendships, and there’s a commercial version being developed for grand-scale use regarding levels of information gathering, geared towards people who need MSB for legal proceedings or investigations. MobileSyncBrowser 3.0, available adds compatibility with iPhone OS 3.0 and was completely rewritten to provide better performance and enhanced stability. Technical Contact: Vaughn S.Cordero, email audiobinder at mac dot com
MobileSyncBrowser 3.1b1 This upgraded version of the application is available as pre-release software and has been said to be “better, faster, and more stable”. It appeared barely five weeks after the release of MobileSyncBrowser 3.0. This latest edition of MSB, provides a multi-threaded experience, and is noticeable more stable and faster than the previous generations. MSB 3.1b1, marks a second milestone, leveraging the modularity to add background processing and caching so there’s no waiting involved due to the extended scanning required for MSB Plus features. 3.1b1 also presents a cache file to the device backups which speeds subsequent visits to an unchanged backup; it alsoincludes fixes for cosmetic reasons and functional purposes. These include an improved handling of similar and alphanumeric addresses in the SMS Convo Lists; improved navigation on systems with 9+ backups where portions of the Categories list would scroll up out of view making them seem “unavailable”; the user should know that single click, double click and alt-click actions have different responses and a little experimentation is required. MobileSyncBrowser (MSB) 3.1b1 has been tested for iPhone OS 3.1b2 and iTunes 8.2.1 compatibility. An important thing to remember is that, as a prerelease software, 3.1b1 could behave in surprising ways; users are encouraged to take sensible precautions before and while operating. The developer assumes no responsibility whatsoever for the use of prerelease software, so prospective clients should try out MSB before purchase in order to familiarize themselves with its interface, and ensure the application works for them. MSB 3.1b1 is stable and recommended for developers and general users who have specific issues with the current MSB. Feedback is always appreciated.