App downgrade

App downgrade

Due to better security, some applications manufacturers made restrictions to what data can be acquired from their apps. This is especially relevant for non-rooted phones.

To bypass this we have introduced the App downgrade, feature in MOBILedit Forensic Express, which will downgrade the apps to a version, in which there was no problem in obtaining the data from them directly.

On the main screen of MOBILedit Forensic Express select Updates and then select App downgrade update - as seen on the screenshots below.

  


You will then be asked to download an extension for MOBILedit Forensic Express, which consists of the apps .apk installation files. Please confirm the download and wait for it to be completely downloaded.

After the download, an installation will start automatically. Once finished, the App Downgrade feature will be included in the Applications section in Specific Selection while creating a report.
Settings and functionality of this feature are described below in the Functionality section of this page.

Functionality

To use the App downgrade function, connect a phone to MOBILedit Forensic Express, select Specific Selection and choose Applications in the right sided menu. You will now have the option to choose (tick) the App downgrade feature to be used in the data extraction process.

There are two options of App downgrade available - Safe and Smart. The safe option works with Android 4.4+ and 5.0+, but not higher than 6.0, while the Smart option works with the other versions. In case the version of Android on your phone was automatically detected by MOBILedit Forensic Express, one of the App downgrade options will be accordingly greyed out, so you can be sure you are using the correct one.

Upon continuing with the extraction you will be asked to allow a test .apk file to be installed to your phone and downgraded. This allows us to check, whether your phone supports the App downgrade feature.

Please mind the following warning message.

When the extraction is started, you will see the downgrading progress on the left side of your screen. Please note that only some apps support this feature as of yet, although we are working on expanding their list.

List of supported apps

Find below the ever-growing list of supported apps for App downgrade.

AliExpress
BlackBerry Messenger
Dolphin Browser
Dropbox
Evernote
Facebook
Google Chrome
Google Docs
Google Maps
Instagram
Kakao Talk
Keepsafe Photo Vault
LINE
Messenger
MiTalk Messenger
Mozilla Firefox
Periscope
Skype
Snapchat
Telegram
Todoist
Truecaller
Twitter
Viber
WeChat
WhatsApp
Wickr Me
WunderList
    • Related Articles

    • How to extract messages and other files if they are not already in an export

      You might have found out that some applications do not provide their information that you need (e.g. messages, call logs) by themselves it is due to information being encrypted by developer/manufacturer.   There are a few ways how to extract your ...
    • Connector´s permissions (Android)

      Due to Android´s policy changes,  applications now do request permissions separately. After updating to a newer version of Forensic Express, you will be asked to confirm them manually. Connector app is installed automatically, in case you are ...
    • MOBILedit license for in-app purchases

      If you have the MOBILedit Phone Copier app downloaded from the Google Play store and you have purchased the in-app transaction for upgrading to Pro version, then you are eligible to receive a single phone license for MOBILedit software for this ...
    • Data - Applications

      Applications Application data – retrieves and processes data of applications. Results of the app analysis are shown in the reports, and the raw application data are also stored in the export folder, which makes additional processing and analysis ...
    • How to connect phone to PC using MOBILedit iOS app

      The Pro version Due to the MOBILedit app serving as a phone connector for MOBILedit desktop app, by making the in-app purchase (or directly purchasing the Pro version), your phone should now be automatically working with the latest version of ...