Tansee iPhone Message Transfer for Mac: Save iMessages and WhatsApp as PDF
Tansee iPhone Message Transfer for Mac is a $19.95-a-year macOS app that copies SMS, MMS, iMessage, RCS and WhatsApp messages from an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to your Mac, then saves them as PDF or text or prints them. It's for people who need conversations as documents, and it can also read an iPhone backup already on your Mac.
Your Mac's Messages app shows your chats, but it isn't built to produce a clean, dated record of a whole conversation with its photos. If a court, an employer or an insurer asks for one, screenshots get old fast. Tansee reads the phone or a backup and writes the whole thing out.
Quick facts
- Version: 6.1.0
- Developer: Tansee
- Mac: macOS 11 or later (Universal build), macOS 10.9 or later (Intel build)
- Devices: all iPhone, iPad and iPod touch models, iOS 1 to iOS 27
- Price: $19.95 for 1 year, 1 Mac, unlimited devices
- Renewal: manual, it doesn't bill you again
- Trial: free demo with limits
- Guarantee: 30-day money-back
What we checked: version 6.1.0 inside the Intel and Universal installers (16.3 MB and 18.3 MB) from tansee.org, and the 1-year license at $19.95 on the order page, on November 5, 2026. We didn't connect an iPhone or run a transfer ourselves.
Before you buy
- Try the free demo with your own iPhone first. It shows whether your device connects and how your conversations come out.
- WhatsApp needs one setting changed. Tansee can't read WhatsApp chats while End-to-End Encrypted Backup is on. Turn it off in WhatsApp's Chat Backup settings first.
- Windows and Mac are separate products. A Windows license won't register this Mac version.
- The Download button gets the Intel build. On an Apple silicon Mac that needs Rosetta. Tansee's product page also offers a Universal build for macOS 11 or later.
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Overview
You connect the iPhone with a USB cable, tap Trust on the phone, and Tansee reads the data. The left side of the window lists the connected device, any iTunes or Finder backups on the Mac, and your saved Tansee files. The right side shows conversations, with tabs for SMS, WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business. Nothing goes to a cloud service.
A conversation in the Mac app (shown in version 5.5.0), with the phone, its backups and Tansee backups in the sidebar.
Features
Copy texts, iMessages and WhatsApp to the Mac
Tansee iPhone Message Transfer copies SMS, MMS, iMessage and RCS conversations plus WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business chats, including group chats. Photos, videos and audio attachments can be saved as ordinary files on your Mac.
Read messages from an iPhone backup
Tansee iPhone Message Transfer can open a backup on your Mac without the iPhone connected. That helps when the phone is lost or broken, and Tansee says deleted messages can be recovered if they're still in an older backup.
Save as PDF, text or a Tansee backup
Tansee iPhone Message Transfer saves whole conversations or only the messages you find with search, as PDF, text or a TFST backup file that you can reopen in the app later.
Print chats with their attachments
Tansee iPhone Message Transfer prints conversations the way they appear on the phone, including subject lines, bubbles, timestamps and photos. Print options let you skip media, change the text size, and show or hide the Tansee logo.
Tansee's guide image of the print dialog (version 5.5.0), with the Print and Next buttons marked in red.
Save Facebook Messenger chats as PDF
Tansee iPhone Message Transfer has a Read Messenger Messages entry in the sidebar for saving and printing Facebook Messenger conversations as PDF files with their attachments.
Benefits
- A dated record for other people. A PDF or printout works where a phone backup can't be read at all.
- It works from backups as well. A dead iPhone isn't the end of your messages if a backup is on your Mac.
- It covers more than Apple's apps do. WhatsApp and Messages conversations can go into one kind of document.
Real-World Uses
- A divorce or employment case needs a complete thread as evidence. One customer quoted by Tansee bought it "to extract important messages for legal purposes".
- A family keeps a late relative's messages and photos as PDF files.
- Someone with a broken iPhone reads messages from a Finder backup on the Mac.
- A small business files WhatsApp conversations with customers.
Who It's For, and Who Should Skip It
Tansee iPhone Message Transfer fits Mac owners who need iPhone conversations as files or on paper.
Skip it if you just want messages on a new iPhone, since iCloud and Quick Start do that for free. Skip it if you don't need a document and Messages on your Mac already shows what you want. Windows users should buy the Windows version.
Usage Guide
- Install and open Tansee iPhone Message Transfer for Mac.
- Connect the device by USB, unlock it, and tap Trust if asked.
- Wait for Tansee to read the device. This takes longer on a phone with lots of apps and photos.
- Pick a conversation, or use search to find selected messages.
- Click Save and choose TFST, text or PDF, or click Print.
- To use a license, click Register and enter your code.
Where it falls short
- Installing can take a little work. Tansee has help pages for macOS's "can't be opened" warnings and for failed installations, which come down to your Mac's security settings.
- Reading can be slow or stall. Tansee has separate help pages for when it keeps reading data, doesn't show the latest messages, or fails to see the iPhone.
- Error 42 can appear while loading. Tansee's fix is to delete the old backups in the MobileSync folder and update. If that fails, make a new Finder backup and read that instead.
- Encrypted backups can need a password. If the iPhone's backup is encrypted, have the password ready.
- Independent reviews are thin. We found no current magazine test of this Mac version.
What Users Say
Customer comments on Tansee's site
Tansee's review page uses masked names, and it's the vendor's own selection, so these can't be checked independently.
- "The software makes it incredibly easy to transfer my messages from my iPhone to my Mac, and it preserves all the attachments and formatting." S**** M*
- "I purchased Tansee iPhone Message Transfer for Mac to extract important messages for legal purposes, and it exceeded my expectations." E**** B*
- "Tansee iPhone Message Transfer Mac version prints all my messages including photos. I am so happy." K** P**
- "Great customer service, they answered all my questions promptly." M** L*
US-Reviews: Tansee as a company
US-Reviews lists 9 reviews of Tansee products, with 67% saying they'd buy again.
- "I was able to transfer all my iPhone messages to my Mac, including photos." Susan, September 8, 2023, on this Mac product
- "It's super simple to use, works quickly, and is dependable." Wolf, February 23, 2024, on the iPhone message tool
- "The software kept crashing on me, and I had to keep starting over countless times" Blanca Kulas, March 18, 2024, on an iPhone backup tool
Older forum reports
A thread on Mac Forums from around 2012 describes a buyer who couldn't save or view transferred texts on OS X Lion and got no reply from support. It's old and may not reflect today's version, while Tansee's current page comments praise support.
The pattern: people use it for printing and legal records, and they find it easy. The complaints are about crashes and failed reads, so test it on your own phone before paying.
Comparisons
Tansee vs Apple's Messages, iCloud and Finder backups
Apple's tools keep your messages safe and move them to a new iPhone, free. Finder backups can't be opened and read like a document, though, and Messages doesn't export a thread with dates and pictures as a PDF. Tansee's value is that output.
Editions and Pricing
| License | Price | Term | Covers |
|---|
| 1-year license (this one) | $19.95 | 1 year, renewed manually | 1 Mac, unlimited iPhones, iPads and iPods |
| 3-year license | $29.95 | 3 years, renewed manually | 1 Mac, unlimited iPhones, iPads and iPods |
Tansee shows these as sale prices against $29.95 and $45. Both include free updates, and a separate Business License is available. If you'll want this again next year, the 3-year license on Tansee's own site is the better buy.
FAQs
Does Tansee iPhone Message Transfer for Mac renew automatically?
No. Tansee says the subscription "will NOT be automatically renewed", so you decide whether to buy again when the year ends.
Does Tansee iPhone Message Transfer work with the latest iPhone?
Yes. Tansee lists all generations of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch on iOS 1 to iOS 27.
Can Tansee iPhone Message Transfer get messages from an iPhone I no longer have?
Yes, if a backup of that iPhone is still on your Mac. Open the app without a phone connected and read the backup listed in the sidebar.
Does Tansee iPhone Message Transfer need iTunes on a Mac?
No. On a current Mac you back up through Finder, and Tansee's fix pages work with those backups.
Are my messages uploaded to Tansee's servers?
No. Tansee says it isn't connected to any cloud storage and that your files are stored only on your computer.
Is Tansee iPhone Message Transfer the same as the old iDevice Message Transfer for Mac?
Yes. Tansee sold this product earlier as iDevice Message Transfer and iPhone SMS Transfer for Mac, and the installer file still uses the iDevice name.
System Requirements
- Mac: macOS 11 or later (Universal build), or macOS 10.9 or later (Intel build, Rosetta needed on Apple silicon)
- Devices: iPhone, iPad or iPod touch on iOS 1 to iOS 27
- Connection: USB cable
- Disk: under 20 MB for the installer, plus space for your messages
Conclusion
Tansee iPhone Message Transfer for Mac is worth $19.95 if you need iPhone conversations as PDFs or printouts. The one reason to buy it is that it produces a complete, dated record, even from a backup when the phone is gone. The main reason not to is that it's a yearly license for what may be a one-time job, and reports of crashes mean you should try the free demo on your own iPhone first.
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