Legal cases
Preserve a client’s messages as they exist on a Mac, with a record of what was captured and when.
The problem
A client’s messages are the evidence, and they sit in a database macOS may be deleting on a rolling basis. Screenshots lose the raw handles and timestamps, and there is no way to show later that the copy was not touched.
Why Message Vault helps
- Captures every message and attachment from the Messages database and every iPhone backup on the Mac, read-only.
- Raw handles (phone numbers and email addresses) are kept beside the resolved contact names, so the record does not depend on the address book.
- The manifest is a hash chain over the messages. Verify it later and it reports the first point of divergence, if any.
- The vault is a standard SQLite database you can copy and hand to opposing counsel or an expert as-is.
- The whole archive is searchable, with a coverage view that shows which dates are present and which are not.
How to do it
- Back up the client’s iPhone to the Mac with Finder, then add the Mac’s Messages database and the backup as sources.
- Scan, review the coverage view, and seal the manifest. Note the chain head and hand it to a third party at a known time if you need to fix a date.
- Copy the vault folder to your matter file and verify the manifest again before you rely on it.
Message Vault reads the Messages database on a Mac and the iPhone backups made on that Mac with Finder or iTunes. It does not pull messages from a phone over the air. The manifest proves the archive has not changed since it was sealed. It does not prove the archive was complete or truthful at that moment, and its timestamp is the Mac’s own clock, not a trusted time source. It is not a certified forensic tool and we make no claim about whether a court will accept what it produces. That is a question for your attorney.
$29 per year, per Mac. 14-day free trial. Cancel any time. Requires macOS 14 or later.
Other use cases: Family memories · Corporations · Executive teams · Custody disputes · Estate and executors · Journalists and researchers · Switching Macs or phones · macOS deleted my messages · Small business owners