iPhone Backup Extractor
release notes

We’ve just released another update for both Windows and macOS. No new features in this build: we’ve focused on performance improvements and bugfixes. Enjoy it!

• Improvement Things are faster than ever! Zoom or ZOMG?
• Improvement Library and Mobile Device domains are shown with friendlier names
• Fix We do more to use less… memory. No need for that extra RAM.
• Fix Stopped SMS attachments from creating “ghost” deleted messages.
• Fix Clicking retry on macOS no longer has the possibility to make the app freeze. Sorry, that drove us crazy.
• Fix Stopped the previewer from being deselected on macOS whilst things were still loading.

Hot on the heels of last week's release, here's another update, this time concentrating on photos and WhatsApp.

• Feature Working with encrypted backups is now a lot faster. Quick, create more data!
• Fix Prevented photo extraction from eating too much disk space.
• Fix Straightened out a potential crash when extracting photos and videos.
• Fix "The specified path is too long?" Oh no! But not any more, we fixed this one.
• Fix The "iCloud is sleeping" message doesn't incorrectly pop up from some "contact us" links.
• Fix Fixed many unusual crash situations. Situate yourself how you'd like!
• Fix Images handled much better in extraction of regular and undeleted content.
• Fix Encrypted backup size is now shown smartly for macOS backups.

This last week team RI were off for a picnic in the park, and we shipped 7.5.0.1661 with a whole list of speed and reliability enhancements. You'll see the next few builds going to make the application more robust than ever.

• Improvement All left hand navigation items are expanded by default.
• Improvement We've updated the lovely README file that gets installed with the Windows version of the app.
• Fix The encrypted backup password box did some funny flickering whilst encrypted backups were being loaded.
• Fix Scrolling through images in the preview was funky on some Macs. We fixed it.
• Fix It was possible for one state from the iCloud API to upset the app. No longer!
• Fix Recovery of undeleted messages could take a lot of memory, and sometimes more than a user had. Memory usage on undeleted is nice and smooth now.
• Fix There was a styling error that sometimes hid contact names in group messages when exported to HTML. There isn't any more!
• Fix A nasty calendar extraction problem for pre-iOS 8 builds had crept in. We excised it.
• Fix Our KML exports were technically valid but Google Earth wasn't happy with them. 7.5.0.1661 resolves this.

• Improvement Faster backup loading speed.
• Improvement Split AppGroups and AppPlugins from Application domains.
• Fix Fixed Error 17. Yeah, we didn't like it either.
• Fix Our “about” dialog has a +10% prettiness bonus.

• Fix We've spotted and fixed an issue with some deleted messages going missing from previews in the Windows release. Sorry!

• Improvement Improve iTunes data access for offline backups and provide access to more data.
• Improvement We've enhanced our iTunes functionality with a number of speed fixes.

We've got a big new feature for you today: recovery of contacts from iCloud, independent of any backups you might have. Also, the first iOS 11 beta has only been out a few days, but we've added support for it. Happy days!

• Feature Extraction of Contacts from the iCloud.
• Improvement Support for iOS 11 Calendar, Messages and Notes.

Today's release includes a number of enhancements to our iCloud functionality.

• Fix We've resolved a nasty crash when receiving data from our iCloud API.
• Fix We've sorted a nasty keybag decryption error affecting iOS 10.2.
• Fix We've made the 2FA challenge window faster.

We've got a cracking new feature for you today: extraction of messages into PDF.

• Feature Messages can now be extracted into a beautiful PDF format. This works for deleted messages, too.
• Improvement We've reorganised the "Extract" menu to group related items into subfolders. We've also removed most of the separators from the file menu on Windows.
• Fix We've made resizing the main application window faster on Windows.
• Fix We've fixed a problem where the offline activation system couldn't be clicked on Windows.

• Feature Extract as PDF. The extract format family is finally complete. Now you can extract data from any chat app (including iOS native apps) in glorious PDF. Pretty Doggone Fine.
• Improvement Extract menu options now include the same icons as the File menu options. It is all about a consistent look and feel for the product.
• Fix Fixed a bug in the offline activation window which made the activation button invisible when the key was pasted in. Now, the activation button is easier to see than a dog on stilts.

• Fix This is a minor update to our earlier release of 7.4.7.1582.

• Feature Added Apple WatchOS 3 support. The first time anyone has had WatchOS support.
• Feature We added a sample data iCloud account for John Appleseed. We added this for users of Free and Basic plans so they could get a taste of the full iPhone Backup Extractor experience. You can follow the story of John and Jane from young lovers to married couple. See their photos, watch their videos, read about Tommy the wonder dog; what happened at the vet? However, if you don't want to see this data then you will be able to switch it off via the help menu or the iCloud accounts window.
• Fix For years now a mystery deleted note has haunted the Notes recovery process. Today we exorcised it. In the past you would see the note from 01/01/2001 whenever your recovered notes from any backup. It has finally been laid to rest, and you will only recover your own, familiar notes from now on.

• Improvement We changed the Mac installer to a gorgeous one that even looks good on retina. We don't want to oversell it, but it's prettier than the Mona Lisa.
• Fix Fixed an issue with the reloading of iCloud backups. If you downloaded one data category then that would be the only data you would see; even after downloading more. Now you will see all of your downloaded data.
• Fix iPhone Backup Extractor is now notifying users to upgrade to 7.4.6.1563, because we care and 7.4.6.1563 is the cat's pajamas.

• Feature Added support for WatchOS 2. Whoop, whoop!
• Improvement Added a recommendation about encrypting your backup. This is just a friendly message to encourage users to think about their data security. Our iOS experts love to talk about data security.
• Improvement Viber changed their database locations which meant that iCloud messages were not being recovered for the latest Viber version. You can now recover Viber messages after we coxed the database out with cookies and chocolate.
• Improvement Made improvements to the update mechanism which will push all users to the latest iPhone Backup Extractor. Because we ❤️ all our users, and we want you to enjoy the best of what the software can offer. 🎈

• Feature We are happy to ship the first iCloud recovery software that can help you recover Tinder messages. You will find it in the Preview window along with Photos, Messages, WhatsApp, Viber and others. If you accidentally delete a message, or worse yet, the entire app. You can simply click on the Tinder icon to review any messages in your backup. We will continue to look for ways to improve Tinder recovery but this is our Valentine's gift for all of the lovers out there. For more details please read this week’s Tinder themed blog.
• Feature We have added iCloud Photo Library which makes iPhone Backup Extractor the most complete iCloud recovery software on the market. Now you will be able to download all of your photos and videos from all Photo Library albums (including shared albums). When you login to your iCloud account you will see the all new Photo Library option beneath Photostream (left side pane). To make things easier the entire process is the same as Photostream. Simply click the Download button to recover your entire Photo Library.
• Improvement For Windows users we have also updated the folder browsers to make them more modern. Although this is only a cosmetic change; it is more inline with the look and feel of the software.
• Fix Especially good news for Windows 8 users with a bug fix that was crashing or hanging the app. Not any more we squashed the bug and you can now return to seamless data extraction.
• Fix We also fixed the Windows bug which was stopping you from closing the software via the File menu. Older versions would freeze when you used this method to close the app. We’re all tired of freezing this winter, so the fix is in and let spring begin.

As of today, we're making a big change: today's release of iPhone Backup Extractor 7.4.4.1505 makes access to encrypted backups available to all of our users with iPhone Backup Extractor. We're making this change retroactively for all users on the Basic and Home editions, so they'll get the feature without any additional cost, despite having bought their licenses back in 2008! We've also bumped up the number of devices (from 2 to 5) that can be accessed for users on our Pro and Premium editions.

We're committed to helping people make use of their iOS devices in a secure way, and we're keen to encourage use of encrypted backups and two-factor authentication (2FA). 2FA is already free for all of our iCloud users. With this change, all users of iPhone Backup Extractor are able to benefit from the protection afforded to them by encrypted backups.

• Feature Encrypted iTunes backups are now supported in the Basic plan. All of the encrypted backup limitations have been removed. Previously the Basic plan would only let you recover 4 files from an encrypted backup, now you can recover all of your data from an unlimited number of iTunes backups. You asked, we listened.
• Feature The Premium plan enjoys an increase for the iCloud devices to recover iOS data from. 5 iCloud devices supported uplifted from the original 2 iCloud devices, which makes it a better all-round option.
• Improvement We changed the iTunes encrypted backup icon and added a very foreboding padlock; it beefs up the classic iTunes icon and lets everyone know what’s what. This just to further help you distinguish each backup at a glance without the need for selecting the backup itself.
• Improvement We improved the icons in the AppView and removed the meaningless bright blue icon and replaced it with a classy Apple on a gray background. It is really an aesthetic change to make the entire program more consistent in look and feel.
• Improvement Mac users will notice The file menu extract by folder option will now opens to the default iTunes backup folder; you don’t need to take the scenic route to your backup folder anymore.
• Improvement Windows users, We have continued the hard work on Photo previews in Windows. The Photos should be even quicker again this week, the quest will go on until the Photos are previewed faster than a dog can eat a hamburger.
• Fix A bug in the file menu was fixed. Previously performing multiple file menu extractions would extract the same data every time regardless of the file selected. It was like something out of a Black Mirror episode. Now using the File menu extraction will extract all the correct data every time, more like an episode of Happy Days. While we were in there we also threw in an extra message box asking you where you want to put the data. This will help you keep all of your recovered data in the one location.
• Fix iCloud backups with very large files would sometime throw an error called JSON Parse error. Well, not anymore. JSON Parse has officially left the building.
• Fix Added full task acknowledgment to the servers which means that if any servers drop out the task will not be lost. This will help keep the iCloud downloads fast, efficient and complete.

• Improvement We have improved the "File" menu's conversion options. In the past we would ask you to search for the file in the backup. However, in iOS 10 the files are contained in sub-folders which can make the file difficult to find. Now it just makes it all a little bit easier for iOS 10 backups.
• Improvement The lists on the left pane of the software (Photo Streams, Devices, Password Needed) now have "Show" and "Hide" buttons at hover. This will avoid clutter on the left and make it easier to see what you want, when you want it. We have implemented this only for Windows users as Mac users had a better experience since some time ago.
• Improvement We are working on the speed of Photo previews; displaying all of the images will be getting a little quicker with every release. This week the display time for Photo previews in encrypted backups is a little better. Soon they will be there before you take the photo.
• Improvement We have cleaned up the file menu and grouped the similar options into smaller sub-menus to make everything easier. The file menu is a lot cleaner, shorter and organised.
• Improvement We updated all of the icons in AppView to the newest and most beautiful icon for each app. They just look so pretty now.
• Improvement The file menu has had a busy week. For Windows users, We have added the familiar icons to each of the categories so you can pick the data category just by looking at the icon. I mean, who’s got time to read nowadays anyway.
• Fix Mac users will be happy when they’ll see We fixed the hovering ‘To avoid incomplete backups disconnect this device before downloading’ warning message. When iPhone Backup Extractor was resized the message would hover around the middle of the window like a UFO. Now it stays where is should all the time.

• Fix We fixed a crash that you got if you moved or deleted an offline iOS backup while having that same iOS backup opened in iPhone Backup Extractor. We now show you a polite error message and allow you to continue with your work.
• Fix We fixed the iOS 10+ iTunes backups file dates bug; the dates would be shown as 400 years in the past. Now that the timestamp conversion is correct there will be no more pictures from the first performance of Hamlet. That’s a shame.
• Fix Another time related bug was squashed with iCloud backup times returning to the correct local time. If you would like to continue seeing what time your backup occurred in London then you will need to use a time conversion tool.
• Fix A bug which stopped users from recovering their photos from iPhone 7 iTunes backups has been fixed. If you were trying to extract in albums then new tables were being added to the database which confused the extractor. Now you can extract all the photos without a problem.
• Fix We stopped a missing backup file causing a Null Reference Exception crash; we can’t magic up the file, but we can stop the software from crashing. You should receive a gentle message if the file is missing.
• Fix We fixed the Expert Mode file tree which split branches from SysSharedContainer and SysContainer Domains. A number of folders were being scattered all over the file tree; you will now find that all the folders from these domains are contained in the right location.
• Fix We are now limiting the amount of tasks that can be submitted to the server. Essentially if 1,000 tasks are ready then we’re not submitting any more. This will help stop backlogs and provide a more efficient experience for all users.

• Improvement In what is a popular feature -- iCloud data download -- we've added more details to the iCloud download window process. This will give you a better idea of what is happening when iPhone Backup Extractor is downloading iCloud data. The new information is much clearer and you will see that tasks are being requested, are ready (for download), downloading, or completed. This is particularly helpful for large iOS backups which would otherwise display a slow moving progress bar.
• Fix We had some users report trouble when trying to right-click on files in "Expert Mode" for adding, replacing, or deleting files in the backup. There was some debate about whether they were right-clicking in the right way or if their right-clicking was wrong. We have fixed it so that every right-click is the right right-click.
• Fix We have fixed the bug that was misreporting the times and dates of iCloud files. Dates were being displayed as 19 years in the future (2035), but now everything has returned to normal. No more pictures from 2035 when apes rule the planet, just sit back and watch it unfold in real-time.
• Fix We fixed a System Overflow Exception bug causing iPhone Backup Extractor to crash when backups wouldn’t report the correct file size.
• Fix A minor cosmetic change with an update to the copyright year to 2017. 'Cos 2016 is over, innit?

• Improvement Updated plan names and device limits.
• Improvement Improved status information when downloading from iCloud.
• Improvement Improved reporting for licenses activated offline.