Anyone migrating phones, switching numbers, going iPhone ↔ Android
Keep the years before you switch the phone
You upgrade your phone, restore the WhatsApp backup, and 80% of the time it kinda works. Sometimes it doesn't. Either way you've lost your insurance copy.
Pain points
- WhatsApp's own restore fails silently. 'No backup found', or it restores only part of the thread
- iCloud ↔ Android transfer is officially unsupported across years of chats
- Google Drive only keeps one snapshot. Each successful sync overwrites the previous, no version history
- On-device .crypt15 backups rotate. Only the last week or so survives before being overwritten
- Switching phone numbers loses the previous account's history
How Chat Hoarding answers
- One .tarc per snapshot. Keep the year you switched, keep the year before
- Doesn't depend on WhatsApp restoring anything: the archive is independent
- Open the archive on your Mac long after the source phone is gone
- Roadmap: merge multiple snapshots into a single archive
Capabilities that matter for this use case
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.
Easy, Medium, Advanced: get the backup off the phone
Companion app over wireless share, USB drag-drop via OpenMTP, or fully automatic adb pull bundled inside Chat Hoarding for Mac.
.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.
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.
Ready to archive yours?
$99 lifetime · 2 Macs · revocable from the account page · 14-day refund