Did you know that your LifeList-Birds database is also stored on your computer? When you attach your iPhone or iPod touch to your computer, typically, iTunes is launched and a backup of your installed Apps is made to your computer’s hard disk drive. This backup includes all user preferences, settings, and databases that are associated with each App. You can locate this backup archive via these system file paths:
MacOS X -
user name (home folder)/Library/Application Support/
MobileSync/Backup
Windows XP -
drive letter:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\
Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup
Windows Vista -
drive letter:\Users\user name\AppData\Roaming\
Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup
Once you’ve navigated to the backup folder, you will find a series of folders with long incomprehensible names (e.g., f698a97c3cf479fc12c09bd54774859980741346). Find the most recently updated folder (i.e., check each folder’s “date modified” entry). Inside the correct folder you will have to wade through a nonsensical listing of file names. These are the stored names for your backup files. For example,
aefbf9450dc85d985a83a22a0bed88f9f3fa8cc2.mddata
is the name for my LifeList-Birds icon file. Remember never edit these files.
An alternate method for locating, viewing, and copying your basic iPhone files is with USB iPhone Browser App (http://www.iphone-explorer.com/). This FREE App enables you to create, copy, rename, and delete files and folders directly on your iPhone and iPod touch — just like a generic USB removable media device. Although available for both MacOS and Windows, USB iPhone Browser will not enable you to make a user-friendly backup or copy of your LifeList-Birds SQLite database.
If you’d like to locate, extract, backup, copy, or repair your LifeList-Birds database, then you will need the following tools:
MacOS X – iPhone/iPod touch Backup Extractor
(http://supercrazyawesome.com/)
Windows – iPhone Backup Extractor
(http://www.reincubate.com/labs/iphone-backup-extractor-how-extract-files-iphone-backup-windows)
SQLite Browser – FireFox Add-On
(https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5817)
SQLite Browser – Database Editor
(http://sourceforge.net/projects/sqlitebrowser/)
SQLite Database Repair Utilities
(http://sqlite.software.informer.com/download-sqlite-database-repair-utility/)
Remember to protect your valuable data—always backup your iPhone.