Import backup to iOS

Guides | Tutorials | Howto
1

to import a backup on an iPhone:

  • install Delta Chat on the iPhone
  • connect the iPhone to a Mac computer
  • open the Finder on the Mac
  • navigate in the Finder to your iPhone on the left
  • then select “Files” at the top
  • drag’n’drop the backup .tar file to “Delta Chat”

Screen Shot 2021-04-12 at 15.30.27
Screen Shot 2021-04-12 at 15.30.27994×542 66.5 KB

once done, you can disconnect the iPhone from the Mac.

on the iPhone:

  • open Delta Chat
  • select “Restore From Backup” on the welcome page
  • the backup imported from above should appear, tap “Ok” then.

that’s all :wink:

note: on older Mac’s (before 10.15 Catalina), you have to use iTunes instead of the Finder, the rest is more or less identical.

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For a way on Linux:

Make sure you have the following programs installed:

Then open nautilus and the your device will appear on the side panel a bit like in the mac os screenshot above. When clicking on it you will see folders for each app. open the folder for DeltaChat and copy the backup file there.

Note: Exporting to this location from deltachat desktop does not work, in this case you need to save the backup somewhere else and then copy it to the iDevice (iphone/ipad).

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3

It should be possible to use the iOS Files app to copy the backup file from somewhere else to the “Delta Chat” directory on the iOS device.

Somewhere else e.g. could be a SMB/CIFS file share. With additional apps you may access other network shares in the Files app, e.g. with the app “Secure ShellFish” installed you can access SFTP shares.
Or download from a HTTP server or mail it to yourself or…

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4

Hi I am new to Delta and have an iPad mini 4 with iPadOS 15.2 installed on it. Today I found out a way without the need of a computer. Here what i did:

  • made my backup on my Fairphone with /e/os installed (will work also on not degoogled android)
  • copied the backup file to my cloud
  • installed delta.chat on my ipad
  • opened the finder on the ipad, but there was no Delta Chat folder in it
  • i searched for Delta, but without finding it
  • so I created in the main ipad-directory a new folder named: Delta Chat
  • after having it created it disappeared
  • searching for it, the finder found it,
  • i clicked on it and pasted the the previously copied backupfile
  • i went to the import function … and the backup was imported
  • after all, now the Delta Chat folder is visible
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5

backups are not encrypted yet*, so doing that is discouraged. especially when not using google drive or dropbox as cloud.

* we are working on it, soon backups will be encrypted

6

I knew therefore I copied the backup to my selfhosted nextcloud
Today I tried another way, installing kdeconnect beta on the iPad and transferred the file in this way from my cellphone

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please note: for whatever reason, Apple removed the progress bar on copying files from/to iPhone.

therefore, you’ll have no idea how long copying takes place - until the destination file shows the correct file size - which may take tens of minutes if the file is some gigabyte large. please stand by and do not disconnect the iPhone until you see the correct file size - unfortunately, Apple also seems to have removed the warning when outplugging the phone, so “just” doing that will result in incomplete, corrupted backup.

(tested on ios 15.3, macos 12.3 - took me some time to realize the issue and that copying really takes so long)

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8

I also came across the same issue recently, I really wonder how apple can be making these mistakes and not get any real consequences.

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So note for linux users, but this can be done on macOS and windows too if the other methods are broken.
If libimobiledevice (the thing over the file manager) does not work for any reason (because of a broken installed version for example and you are not scared of the terminal, then you can follow these alternative steps:

  1. Be on the same local network (wlan), also DO NOT EVER DO THIS IN PUBLIC WIFI!
  2. install miniserve how to install
  3. create a new folder and move your backup in there (or just an empty directory if you want to transfer the backup from your phone to computer)
  4. miniserve /path/to/the/directory/you/just/created -a username:suP3rSecret --qrcode --upload-files
  5. on your phone go to settings app: safari → downloads and select “on my iphone” so your backup is not uploaded to the iCloud (apple why do you think that default icloud made sense??)
  6. go to the camera app and scan the qrcode from the terminal to open the local website
  7. login with the credentials you specified in step 4, in my case username:suP3rSecret
  8. download the file, then move it to the deltachat folder using the files app. If you want to transfer to your computer instead press the upload button on the page and upload the file to your computer (that’s what the --upload-files argument was for).

I think the current situation is unacceptably bad for users with no technical affinity, we are planning to improve this process soon so that its just a qr scan away in the deltachat app.