Feature
Companion app over wireless share, USB drag-drop via OpenMTP, or fully automatic adb pull bundled inside Chat Hoarding for Mac.
Install the Chat Hoarding for Android APK. Tap Locate. Pick share mode (zip with media, chats only, or raw .crypt15). Chat Hoarding for Android hands the file to Android's system share sheet (Quick Share, Nearby, LocalSend, Drive, whatever your destination is). On the Mac, drop the zip into Chat Hoarding for Mac. Path of least resistance; no USB cable required.
Plug the Android phone into your Mac. Open OpenMTP (or Android File Transfer). Drag the WhatsApp folder onto your Mac. Drop into Chat Hoarding for Mac. No Chat Hoarding for Android install required; works on any Android even if you can't sideload an APK.
Enable USB debugging on the Android phone. Plug it in. Chat Hoarding app scans the 6 candidate WhatsApp paths in parallel, picks the freshest, and pulls everything (DB + media + contacts) via the bundled adb binary. The fastest and most automatic path. Bundled adb is signed separately during release; no manual install.
FAQ
Do I need to root my phone?
No. None of the three tiers require root. WhatsApp's own backup folder is readable via the Easy/Medium paths, and adb pull works on unrooted devices with USB debugging on.
What if my phone is broken?
If you already saved a .tarc, the phone is irrelevant; that's the whole point. If you haven't yet, the path depends on where the backup last got to: a Google Drive backup can be restored onto any replacement Android using your phone number + 64-digit key, and you archive from there. If the backup only lived on the dead phone and never reached Drive, getting it off is hardware recovery, outside Chat Hoarding's scope.
Used in
Other capabilities
Decrypts the Crypt15 backup locally
AES-256-GCM decryption with your 64-digit key. msgstore.db.crypt15, the only database WhatsApp writes to the user-accessible backup folder. Keys never leave the Mac.
The whole conversation, not just the words
Voice notes, photos, videos, calls, locations, group history, and deletion markers with sender attribution.
Receipts on every message: sent, delivered, read, played
Three-state check indicator with timestamps. Per-recipient breakdown in group chats. Same icons WhatsApp uses.
Names instead of phone numbers
Auto-fills from your device address book (vCard exported by Chat Hoarding for Android, or pulled via adb), or manually per JID. Handles @lid privacy IDs.
.tarc, one file, lifetime archive
Bundles manifest, decrypted msgstore.db, an optional contacts.json (imported address book) and manual_contacts.json (your in-app renames), and the media folder, all inside a macOS package. Double-click to open. Survives the phone.
Two network calls. That's it.
Decryption, browsing, archive creation: fully on-device. Companion has no INTERNET permission. Chat Hoarding for Mac's only outbound calls are license activation and the update check.
Signed updates that install themselves
New versions arrive automatically. Each one is cryptographically signed; Chat Hoarding app refuses anything that doesn't match, even if the update feed were tampered with.
Search across every chat, jump to every hit
Substring search across the whole archive: cross-chat hit counts in the sidebar, in-chat match counter with cycling. Same .tarc, instant results.
WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business, same archive
Chat Hoarding scans both com.whatsapp and com.whatsapp.w4b paths. Either backup, either app, same Crypt15 pipeline, one .tarc file.
Bold, italic, @mentions, replies — preserved as they were sent
Markdown markup (*bold*, _italic_, ~strike~, `code`), inline links, @mentions resolved to display names, reply-to threading rendered above each bubble.
Save your WhatsApp history forever.
$99 one-time. 2 Macs, revocable. 14-day refund.
