Android FAQ

Find answers to common questions about TextExhibit for Android.

General Questions

What is TextExhibit?

TextExhibit for Android converts text messages from Android devices into professionally formatted, court-ready PDF documents. It’s used by attorneys, paralegals, and anyone who needs to convert text message evidence into professional PDF documents.

Is my data sent to any servers?

No. TextExhibit processes message data locally on your phone. Your text messages never leave your device. See our Android Privacy Policy for more details.

Output & Features Questions

What is Bates numbering?

Bates numbering is a method of indexing legal documents for easy identification and retrieval. Each page receives a unique sequential identifier, such as DOC-000001 or DOC-000002. TextExhibit can automatically add Bates numbers to every page of your output PDFs.

What is the hash verification report?

The verification report documents the integrity of your output PDFs using cryptographic hashes, including SHA-256 and MD5. This provides chain of custody documentation showing that the files have not been tampered with.

How are large conversations handled?

Conversations with more than 100 messages are automatically split into monthly PDFs for easier navigation. Each PDF covers one calendar month of messages.

Can I filter messages by date?

Yes. TextExhibit includes date range filters so you can include only messages from a specific time period relevant to your case.

What happens to images and videos in messages?

MMS attachments, including images, videos, and audio, are extracted and saved to media folders. The PDFs reference these files so you can view them alongside the message content.

The blue link to view the full-size photo isn’t working in my exported PDFs. Is this a trial limitation?

No. This is unrelated to the trial. The exported PDFs link to image files saved next to the PDF in an images subfolder, and not every PDF viewer follows clickable links to local files.

Viewers that handle these links well:

• Google Chrome on Windows and Mac
• Foxit PDF Reader on Windows and Mac
• Adobe Acrobat Reader on Windows and Mac

Viewers that commonly do not follow the link:

• macOS Preview, because the built-in Mac viewer does not open links to external local files
• Microsoft Edge’s built-in PDF viewer, which blocks local file links for security
• Mobile PDF viewers on iPhone and Android, including Files, Books, Quick Look on iOS, Google Drive viewer, and most default Android viewers, because they generally cannot open links to other local files

You can always view the full-size images directly by opening the folder containing your exported PDFs. You’ll see an images subfolder with every extracted photo and video at full resolution. This works under the free trial as well.

Android-Specific Questions

TextExhibit for Android will not open, crashes immediately, or appears stuck at startup. What should I do?

First, uninstall TextExhibit completely, restart your phone, and reinstall the app from Google Play. Your Android purchase is tied to your Google account, so reinstalling from the same Google account should not charge you again.

This can happen if Android or Google Play installs an incomplete or corrupted copy of the app, or if saved app data from a previous install becomes stuck. Reinstalling gives Android a clean copy of the app and resets its startup state.

If the app still will not open after reinstalling, email support@textexhibit.com and include your phone model, Android version, and the approximate time the crash happened.

Some text messages are missing from my Android export. Why?

The most common cause is RCS messages: Google’s “chat features,” the upgraded protocol used by default in Google Messages and Samsung Messages. RCS messages may be stored inside your messaging app’s own private storage, not in the shared SMS/MMS database that Android makes available to other apps. For privacy and security reasons, Android does not allow normal third-party apps to read a messaging app’s private RCS storage, so this can affect every SMS export and backup tool, not just TextExhibit.

This usually shows up in a few ways:

• A single recent message is missing: often one that was just a link or had a link preview, which are frequently sent as RCS.
• A message that exported before no longer exports: the messaging app may have previously written a copy into Android’s shared SMS/MMS database, but later removed it or stopped exposing it after an Android update, Messages app update, phone migration, or RCS re-registration.
• A large chunk of older history is missing: for example, the export only goes back to a certain date even though the conversation in your messaging app goes back further. This typically happens after getting a new phone, reinstalling your messaging app, or switching messaging apps: your older chats are restored inside the messaging app, but were never written back into the shared database that export tools read.

In these cases the messages are still visible inside your messaging app, which can read its own private storage, but they are invisible to TextExhibit and every other normal third-party SMS export tool.

This is not unique to TextExhibit. Another SMS backup/export app documents the same limitation, noting that if unsupported/RCS messages are not visible to ordinary SMS apps, no third-party app can access them. Android Authority has also covered how third-party RCS support was removed from Android Q, and how newer RCS archival support is limited to fully managed enterprise devices rather than consumer export apps.

What you can do:

• For a few missing messages: take a screenshot of each one in your messaging app and include the screenshots alongside your exported PDFs as supplemental exhibits.
• For large amounts of missing history: if you still have access to the old Android phone where the messages appear, try installing TextExhibit on that phone and exporting the conversation there. The old device may still have more of the conversation available in Android’s shared SMS/MMS database. If the messages only exist inside the messaging app’s private RCS storage, unfortunately there is no reliable way for TextExhibit or any normal third-party export app to extract them.
• To verify whether this is the issue: try exporting the same conversation with SMS Backup & Restore or checking whether the message appears in another ordinary SMS app. If the message is missing there too, Android is not exposing it to third-party apps.
• Turning off RCS or “chat features” will not bring back past messages. It only changes how future messages are sent.

If you’re not sure whether RCS is the cause, email support@textexhibit.com and we can help you confirm.

I tried to open an exported video on Android and got a “Problem with this file” message. How do I play the video?

This is an issue with Android, not our app. We recommend downloading the VLC app, which does not have any problems playing all exported video formats.

How do I get the device serial number for Android?

Android apps cannot access the device serial number for security reasons. If you need this information in your PDF footer:

1. Open Settings > About Phone.
2. Find and copy the Device name and Serial number.
3. Paste this into the Serial number box in TextExhibit for Android.

Licensing Questions

Is there a trial?

Yes. TextExhibit for Android runs in trial mode with watermarks on output PDFs and some text messages redacted. This allows you to evaluate the app before unlocking the full version with the in-app Google Play purchase.

Still Have Questions?

If you didn’t find your answer here, email support@textexhibit.com.