I've been unhappy for a while that my archives of a decade and a half of old conversations had become inaccessable, but this app does exactly what it needs to do, converting the logs into several universal formats that should stand the test of time. The only thing that could make it better is a Chatology-style browsing interface collating all my conversations with specific people and allowing me to easily search through them without having to search for files containing a term, then for the term within the files themselves.
This app perfectly displays all of my old iChat files dating back to 2003, even messages containing photos sent with AIM's Direct Connect feature. The copy feature can be used to copy/paste the text into another app for future-proofing. Two feature requests: 1. Bulk export to .txt 2. A UI that functions a bit like Messages or an email client so iChat files can be imported and searched.
I am so grateful someone made this app. For years, I've wanted to be able to go through my old iChat files, but there's no longer an app that supports the file type. And when you open it in TextEdit it's just gobledygook! Thank you for making this. It works great. Just what I was looking for you. Please keep updating the app so that it stays working as the OS evolves over the years.
Really thankful for this app, which just *works* pure and simple. Even an idiot user like me (who can't use Terminal, doesn't know Markdown, etc.) can read the text inside of old ichat files using Past for iChat.
This app works perfectly for viewing old .ichat files! It is very easy to use. Finder can now preview the chats in color. There is a bulk export option to quickly convert a bunch of files to PDFs (and other formats)--super easy!
I have iChat logs going back to the dawn of time. Or at least the dawn of iChat. This app doesn't crash, looks great, and most importantly of all, it lets me read my old iChat logs.
Download the app, view your chats with color-coded options, and great customer service... if there was an ability to print or save as a PDF (and print seperately), I would rate this app off the charts!
Past for iChat is a little application to open and view old chat log files created by Apple's iChat application (.ichat and .chat files) on macOS Big Sur, Monterey and later. iChat was the predecessor of the new and improved Messages app. Starting with macOS Big Sur the refreshed Messages application doesn't support opening old iChat chat log files anymore. Past for iChat keeps your history alive by allowing you to open those. The application also features a simple Markdown export of the chat logs and a Quick Look plugin for previewing chat logs in Finder, Spotlight or other applications. Note: This application is only useful for people with older iChat chat log files (usually older than 5 years). I.e. this app does neither open files created by Big Sur/Monterey itself, not iPhone chat logs.
