A time machine for your text messages.

Scrub to any month of your iMessage & WhatsApp history, see who mattered most, and land in the exact conversation — instantly.

Buy — $11 Compile it yourself
No subscription Runs locally, 100% private
July 2026
38 people · 3,904 messages sent
’14’15’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25Now
Mia 9,412 messages · since 2019
June 2021
2019202020212022202320242025Now

What will you dig up?

Reread your first texts with your partner 💛

A
Alex Done
Friday · Apr 13, 2018
hey! it's me from the coffee thing 😅
the coffee thing?? you mean the best latte of your life
bold claim. prove it friday?
it's a date 🙂
(for the record: it was a great latte)
knew it ☕️
April 2018
’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25Now

Revisit every word from someone you miss 🫂

N
Nana Done
Sunday · Mar 3, 2019
Saw your race photos. So proud of you honey
couldn't have done it without your pep talk
That's what Nanas are for ❤️
Come for Sunday dinner, I'll make the good sauce
wouldn't miss it
March 2019
’11’12’13’14’15’16’17’18’19’20’21

Rediscover the inside jokes from ten years ago 😂

S
Sam Done
Tuesday · Jun 10, 2014
what if pigeons are just government drones that eat bread
why would drones eat bread
battery
…checks out
also we're out of cereal
how is that related
June 2014
’14’15’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25Now

Find your #1 person the year you graduated 🎓

May 2015
27 people · 1,932 messages sent
S
Sam642
R
Riley413
M
Mom301
A
Ava187
J
Jo154
1
S
Sam
642
2
R
Riley
413
3
M
Mom
301
4
A
Ava
187
5
J
Jo
154
’14’15’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25Now
Time Machine

See who your people were, any month of your life.

Drag the slider. The podium reshuffles.

July 2016
31 people · 2,418 messages sent
’14’15’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25Now
S
Sam598
R
Riley402
M
Mom356
1
S
Sam
598
2
R
Riley
402
3
M
Mom
356
4
A
Ava
187
5
J
Jo
154
Relationship Pages

Tap anyone. Travel your whole history together.

Tap your busiest day — land right inside it.

S
Sam Done
14,203Total messages
52%Sent by you
11y 4moTalking for
Feb 18, 2022Busiest day
Oct 2022Busiest month
2022Busiest year
Friday · Feb 18, 2022
ok HUGE news call me
calling in 2
too slow, TEXTING you: we got the apartment!!
NO WAY 🎉🎉
February 2022
’14’15’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
All-Time Stats

See your lifetime stats and all-time top people.

Every message ever, counted and charted.

1.1MTotal messages
54%Share you sent
2022Busiest year
People you texted
Messages you sent
1
S
Sam
169k
2
M
Mom
104k
3
R
Riley
63k
4
A
Alex
51k
5
D
Dad
44k
Reconnect

Find the friends you've lost touch with.

Ranked by who's most worth a text.

NameLast textMsgsScore
Jordan P.214d ago18,20492
Nana96d ago9,88187
Dev371d ago12,53081
Casey M.158d ago7,44276
Sky289d ago5,12071
Maya R.122d ago6,91868
Leo402d ago4,30164

Your messages never leave your Mac.

No servers. None.

No accounts, no analytics — nowhere for your data to go.

Works in Airplane Mode

Zero network calls. Verify it with a tool like Little Snitch.

Read every line

The source is public. Audit it — or build it yourself.

Don't take our word for it — ask your AI.

Paste this into ChatGPT or Claude and let it audit the code for you.

Review the source code of this open-source Mac app: https://github.com/jetlej/besties — it reads the user's local iMessage database. Check every file: does it make any network requests, include any analytics or telemetry, or send data anywhere at all? Tell me plainly whether it's fully private, and list any privacy concerns you find.
Inspect the code on GitHub ↗

Two ways to get it.

Ready to run

Download

$11 once. that's it.
  • Signed & notarized by Apple
  • No Xcode, no setup, no subscription
  • Yours forever
  • Supports an independent maker 💛
Buy It

Build it yourself

Free for developers
  • Clone the repo, open in Xcode, build
  • Every feature, nothing held back
  • Audit exactly what runs on your Mac
  • Requires Xcode & a few minutes
Clone on GitHub

You probably have questions.

Why does it need Full Disk Access?

Your Mac stores your iMessage history in a local database that only apps with Full Disk Access may read — that's the only door Apple provides. Besties opens that database read-only, on your machine, and nothing else. You can verify every byte of that claim in the source code.

Does anything get uploaded, ever?

No. The app contains no networking code at all — no analytics, no telemetry, no "anonymous usage data." It works identically with your internet turned off.

Which messaging apps does it support?

iMessage and WhatsApp. Besties reads the history both apps already keep on your Mac and merges each person's threads into one timeline — so a friend you text on both shows up as one person, one history.

Can it change or delete my messages?

No. Besties opens the Messages database in read-only mode — it's technically incapable of writing to it. Your conversations can't be modified, reordered, or deleted by the app.

How do I install it?

Open the download and drag Besties into the Applications folder — the classic Mac install. Open it and it walks you through granting Full Disk Access (about 20 seconds in System Settings), then starts reading your history immediately.

My history doesn't go back very far — why?

Besties can only see the messages your Mac has. If you have "Messages in iCloud" turned on, your Mac usually holds your full history. If your history looks short, enable Messages in iCloud on your Mac and give it time to sync, then relaunch the app.

What about group chats?

Besties focuses on your one-on-one conversations — the relationships. Group chats aren't included right now.

What does it run on?

macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, on Apple Silicon. It reads the Messages history already synced to your Mac.

Is it really yours forever?

Yes. Pay once, use it forever — no subscription, no account, no license server that could ever shut off. The app is a file on your Mac, and it stays yours.