Reading your iPhone location log

There’s a bit of fuss about iPhones tracking their owners location history.

The instructions on that page are pretty involved. Here’s a command-line-free method to get at that controversial little file:

1. Download and open iPhone Backup Extractor
2. Click "Read Backups" and select the most recent backup from the list that appears
3. A list of app identifiers will be shown. Choose the one that says "iOS Files" and click Extract
4. Choose a location for extraction and wait a minute while the app does it's thing
5. In the finder, navigate to <extracted folder location>/Library/Caches/locationd
6. Open the file "consolidated.db" in your SQLite editor of choice. I recommend the one we make

That SQLite database uses the R*Tree extension. Check out the SQLite documentation on how to efficiently query it.

Base 2.0.2

Base 2.0.2 is now available to download, for both web and App Store users.

It’s primarily a bugfix release, ironing out some more kinks found since 2.0.1. It also enables support for the SQLite R*Tree module.

You can read the full list of fixes and improvements in the changelog.

Base 2.0.2 can be downloaded from the product page.

The Individual

Whoever you are, lone PowerPC user, I salute you.

Update 2011-03-30: And a few days later, the Mysterious Individual has gone. Update stats say that Base now has an Intel-only userbase.

Base 2.0.1

Base 2.0.1 is now available to download, for both web and App Store users. It addresses several bugs related to the display of schemas and some other minor issues. You can read the full list of fixes and improvements from the changelog.

Base 2.0.1 can be downloaded from the product page.

As always, if you’ve found a bug or have a question, please do get in touch.

Base 2.0

I'm delighted to announce that Base 2.0 is now available.

Version 2 of Base is the first major upgrade since the original application was released in November 2008. Almost every part of the app has been tweaked and improved, with several areas getting almost completely re–written. The result is an application which is just as quick and easy to use as the original, with a lot more power.

Base and the Mac App Store

Now that some of the fuss around the launch of the Mac App Store (MAS) has died down, I thought it would be a good time to explain what my plans are for the future of Base.

Statistics helper plugin

The most common support request for Statistics for WordPress is from people struggling to find the details for their site.

To this end, I have written a very small WordPress plugin which displays the API key and URL used by the WordPress.com stats plugin.

Download and install the stats helper plugin (link below) and you will find a new item in the ‘Tools’ menu:

Base 1.4 released

Base 1.4 is now available for download.

The major changes in this release are CSV importing and overhauled SQL importing.

The CSV importer can either create a new table from your data or you can import directly into an existing table. For an example of CSV importing, see the following screenshot:

Base testers needed again

Yep, it’s that time again. I could do with a handful of people to try out the latest version of Base. The main changes in this version are large updates to SQL and CSV importing, so I’m looking for people who can put these areas though their paces.

Anyone who wants to try it should mail me (info@menial.co.uk) and I’ll be in touch with directions for downloading the app.

Base 1.3.4 released

Base 1.3.4 has been released today. It only has one change over 1.3.3 which fixes a bug causing the app to crash on quit (very annoying!).

As usual you can download the update from it’s product page or by checking for updates within the app.