Hello, I've recently had a very frustrating conversation with Apple about the fact that my icloud storage is almost full with the primary culprit being text messages. I could turn off text messages on icloud but I'd like to be able to continue texting from my ipad and keep it up to date with my iphone. So what I want to do is simply download all my text messages (presumably going back to the date I first started using iphone) and store them on an external drive. Well, I've been advised by Apple tech support this is not possible. Texts stored in the ios messages app (or on icloud) can only be stored either on the device or on icloud, nowhere else, says Apple tech support.
My aggravated conclusion is that this is a cheap, underhanded ploy to force me to shell out $ for more icloud storage space. Why the hell should I have do that when I have a 3 terabyte drive sitting here? So I'm pretty frustrated with Apple about this. I should be able to take that data and store it anywhere I like it seems to me. But Apple has basically shut the door in my face on this query, so I've gone hunting for a forum where equally frustrated folks may reside who have found solutions to these $ driven road blocks Apple puts up.
So am I in the right place? If so, then how can I take my text messages off my phone and archive them on an external drive? I just would like to keep the past year or so on the device (and on icloud) and archive the rest. If I'm not in the right place then the question is, where is the right place and can I please have directions? Thanks in advance for any help!!
My aggravated conclusion is that this is a cheap, underhanded ploy to force me to shell out $ for more icloud storage space. Why the hell should I have do that when I have a 3 terabyte drive sitting here? So I'm pretty frustrated with Apple about this. I should be able to take that data and store it anywhere I like it seems to me. But Apple has basically shut the door in my face on this query, so I've gone hunting for a forum where equally frustrated folks may reside who have found solutions to these $ driven road blocks Apple puts up.
So am I in the right place? If so, then how can I take my text messages off my phone and archive them on an external drive? I just would like to keep the past year or so on the device (and on icloud) and archive the rest. If I'm not in the right place then the question is, where is the right place and can I please have directions? Thanks in advance for any help!!