iOS backup browser and exporter

This project is a lightweight, dependency-free Python library for reading and exporting unencrypted iOS backups. It provides a simple CLI and a clean Python API, making it easy to inspect backup contents or extract it into a regular directory structure. The module runs anywhere Python does and is easy to embed in scripts, automation, or larger applications.

iOS backups remain the only stable, publicly supported way to access an app’s on-device file system. This project aims to make that process straightforward and reliable.

Installation

% pip install ios-backup-browser
% ios-backup --version
% ios-backup --help

Syntax

Export:

ios-backup export <iosbackup/path> <export/path> \
  [--domain <domain>] \
  [--namespace <namespace>] \
  [--path <device/path>] \
  [--restore-dates]
  [--restore-symlinks]
  [--ignore-missing]

Basic usage

Export entire backup

ios-backup export iosbackup/path export/path --restore-dates

Filtering

Each file in an iOS backup has the following attributes:

• Domain: Apple's term to associate content with a certain category, for example, AppDomain, CameraRollDomain.
• Namespace: a level of hierarchy under the domain. For example, content of applications will live in AppDomain will have namespaces such as com.mojang.minecraftpe or com.apple.iBooks.
• Relative path: path in the application's sandbox.

When exporting the backup, these attributes form a directory tree with layers in the above order, for example, AppDomain/com.mojang.minecraftpe/Documents/games/com.mojang/Screenshots.

If you need to export only specific content, you can achive that with filtering keys:

ios-backup export <ios_backup> <export_path> \
  --domain AppDomain \
  --namespace com.mojang.minecraftpe \
  --path Documents/games/com.mojang/minecraftWorlds

All values are interpreted as prefixes, full match is not required.

Other options

--ignore-missing – do not fail on missing files (those defined in the database, but not present in the backup). Useful for incomplete or corrupted backups. Try it if you experience problems.

--restore-dates – restore dates and times of files as they were on the original device.

--restore-symlinks – restore symbolic links from backup. This has questionable value, as links will point to non-existent locations on your system, but may be useful for research purposes.

Advanced usage

Custom filtering logic

The below example shows how to use a custom query to process backup content.

In a Python script, create a Backup object and obtain the DB:

from ios_backup import Backup

backup_path = 'path/to/backup/location'
backup = Backup(backup_path)
db = backup.db

Use an SQLite client/browser to explore content of Manifest.db. IDEs like PyCharm and VS Code have built-in modules or extensions for that, or you can use SQLite shell for CLI experience. There is simply a single table:

CREATE TABLE Files (
  fileID TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
  domain TEXT,
  relativePath TEXT,
  flags INTEGER,
  file BLOB
);

After you realized your specific needs, you can export your slice of content or process it in other way.

Export content based on a specific query:

# Export all videos.
query = """
    select * from Files
    where domain = 'CameraRollDomain' and relativePath like 'Media/DCIM/%.MOV'
"""

raw_content = db.buffered_query(query)
content = Backup.parse(raw_content, parse_metadata=True)
backup.export(content, 'path/to/exported_videos', restore_modified_dates=True)

Process specific files based on a query:

# Process all iMessage attachments.
query = """
    select * from Files
    where domain = 'MediaDomain'
      and relativePath like 'Library/SMS/Attachments/%'
      and (relativePath like '%.jpg'
        or relativePath like '%.jpeg'
        or relativePath like '%.heic'
        or relativePath like '%.png'
        or relativePath like '%.gif'
        or relativePath like '%.tiff'
        or relativePath like '%.psd'
        or relativePath like '%.mov')
"""
rows = db.buffered_query(query)

for record in Backup.parse(rows):
    file = backup.base_path / record.content_path

    # Copy or process the file as needed.
    file.copy('destination/directory')

    with file.open('rb') as f:
        data = f.read()
        # Do something with the data.

Progress bar

Export usually runs quite fast on SSD storage, but may take longer on HDDs. To get a sense of export progress, you can install tqdm module.

pip install tqdm

Tqdm is not made a package dependency, which means you need to install it separately. If tqdm is found in the executing Python environment and if total_count is provided to Backup.export() (true for CLI use), it will be used to produce progress bars in the terminal interface.

Relation to unback() iOS function

Unback function was broken by Apple at around version 10 of iOS, and hence some functions of libimobiledevice project (such as idevicebackup2 unback) stopped working on most backups. While this module does not provide 100% equivalemnt of unback()'s output, it does an honest job of exporting of backup content and will suit for cases when you need to browse the files or simply extract photos, videos, or other applications' files.

Creating backups

MacOS

• Connect your device with a USB cable.
• If connecting first time, click "Allow" in the pop-up window on your Mac, then tap "Trust" on the device and enter your passcode.
• Open Finder and select your device on the side panel.
• On "General" tab, find "Backups" section and select "Back up all of the data on your to this Mac.
• Do not select the option to encrypt the backup as the module does not support encrypted backups.
• Click "Back Up Now" button.
• In the pop-up window, select the option to not encrypt the backup.

Backups will be located in $HOME/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup, where $HOME is usually /Users/<yourname>. Note that this location is protected in MacOS. If you want to access this location directly from the module, you have to grant Full Disk Access to your terminal application in Settings --> Privacy & Security. Alternatively, you can use Finder to copy the backup into another location that is not protected by this feature, for example, $HOME/tmp.

Windows

• Download and install the Apple Devices app from the Microsoft Store.
• Connect your device to your PC with a USB or USB-C cable.
• If prompted, tap "Trust" on your device and enter your passcode.
• Open the Apple Devices app and select your device from the sidebar.
• Click "Backup" in the "Backups" section.
• Do not select the option for encryption as the module does not support encrypted backups.
• Click "Back Up Now".

Backups will be located in %USERPROFILE%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup.

Linux/Unix/MacOS/*

• Install libimobiledevice libraries according to the project's instructions.
• Connect the device with a USB cable.
• Run idevicebackup2 backup --full /path/to/your/backup/folder
• Tap "Trust" on the device and enter the passcode when prompted.

*Libraries are technically cross-platform, although on MacOS and Windows you may find the "official" tools more user-friendly.