iPhone SMS Cache Might Reveal Your Secrets

Been using your iPhone to text someone you shouldn’t? Lifehacker reader Nicholas notes that the iPhone’s cache of old SMS messages might see you caught out. Here’s what he discovered:

I have never seen this mentioned anywhere. I have tested it over and over on both mine and multiple other iPhones running the iPhone 4+ firmware.

From the home screen:

  • Swipe your finger to the right to bring up the search screen.
  • Begin typing the name of the person to see any text messages or emails sent to that person. Often you will see the first line of a text message but when you click on the message it is unavailable.

It doesn’t matter how old the message is, the search will bring up a random list it has in its cache. I have even updated and formatted my iPhone, and it still appears, so the cache must also reside within iTunes sync.

This is the greatest way ever to catch a cheating partner even though they might think they have deleted both the contact and the messages from their iPhone.

Even assuming no cheating is involved, that’s something to bear in mind if you’re using your iPhone for sensitive information. Anyone else encountered this?


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