Hike Messenger was an Indian instant messaging application, widely used on Android and iOS. After launch, it offered separate news, gaming, and jokes section and even supported payments. It later developed into a full-fledged VoIP app to match WhatsApp and Viber and even had unique Hikemoji Stickers. Most importantly, the application handled regular SMS and granted free SMS with Hike Offline credits. And, although it was shut down in January 2021, an outdated version is still available on app stores. Additionally, you can find an APK file on file-sharing websites. In other words, you can still preview messages after learning how to restore Hike chats. Let’s begin.
1. Restore Hike chats from an Android cloud backup
This method hinges on the fact that Hike rebranded the app, added new features, and released a new app named “Vibe by Hike”. Therefore, it’s not unreasonable to assume the chats weren’t wiped from their servers, unlike stickers or media files. An ideal case scenario is a smartphone that hasn’t had access to the Internet since (or before) the app shut down. Alternatively, you can go to Settings inside the app, then Account > Reset Account, and sign again. Or, if you’ve just downloaded an APK file, simply log in right away. After launching the Hike app, you’ll get a message stating: “Backup found, would you like to restore your account?” Click on the Restore button and wait.
One thing to consider
Because Hike is tied to SMS exchange, you should check the storage of any other cloud backup services that support it. The first place you should look is Google backup, which we demonstrated in method 1, sub-method 2 (“Restore chat from Google Drive backup”) of our guide on retrieving WhatsApp chat. After that’s done, launch the Hike app again or move the backup file manually as we described in the method below.
2. Restore Hike chats from a local backup on Android
Before the app was discontinued, users could create a manual backup of their entire Hike account. The process looked like this: Settings > Account > Backup Account. Afterward, you could choose the exporting location – internal storage or an SD card. If you remember doing this, open the File Manager app on your smartphone or browse your smartphone storage on your computer. With that done, recovering Hike conversations from a local backup on Android looks like this:
- Check the default backup locations:
- Internal memory: “Local Data/Hike/Backup/chats.backup” or “internal0/Hike/Backup/chats.backup”
- SD card: “/sdcard/Hike/Backup/chats.backup” or “external0/Hike/Backup/chats.backup”
- If folders don’t exist, search the entire storage for “hike” or “chats.backup”.
- Note. The files are likely hidden. Use methods 1 and 2 in our guide on recovering .nomedia files to uncover them.
- Note 2. You’ll see two more files, data and pref.backup inside the “Backup” folder. Although they’re technically unnecessary, it doesn’t hurt to copy them too.
- Copy the Backup folder or the chats.backup file to any location except the default one.
- Delete and install the Hike app again.
- The file path from step 1 should generate. If it doesn’t, create it yourself.
- Copy the files back to the folder.
- Sign in to the Hike app, and you should experience the situation described in method 1.
3. Recovering Hike messages from a local or cloud backup on iOS
Although the app interface and the backup procedure are identical to Android, accessing it is problematic. Apple does its best to prevent users from tinkering with internal memory, let alone hidden files left behind by apps. So, before you use external tools to search for iOS Hike backups, you should check whether internal strange or iCloud contains them. Let’s start.
1. Search the internal memory
We demonstrated this when we discussed recovering Snapchat photos. To clarify, you should look at method 2, sub-method 3 (“Extracting Snapchat images from iOS storage”). iFunbox is one of many available applications, and you’re free to use whichever you find most comfortable working with. If you opt for iFunbox, follow steps 1-4, then instead of step 5, find the “Hike” folder. Copy it to any other location, then follow steps 6 through 9 above.
2. Check your iCloud account
Refer to the WhatsApp chat recovery guide mentioned in method 1, but upon opening it, navigate directly to method 2, sub-method 2, named “Restore conversations from an iCloud backup”. After following those instructions, open the app to see if you restored Hike messages.
3. Use a backup or database extractor (Advanced)
Since the methods above failed, you can use third-party tools. For demonstration, we’ll use a popular one we aren’t affiliated with – Reincubate’s iPhone Backup Extractor. Here’s what to do after downloading, installing, and running this free program on Windows or Mac:
1. Exporting messages
To recover Hike chats from an iTunes/iCloud backup by exporting, do this:
- In the iPhone Backup Extractor, click on the + icon to add an iCloud account.
- Sign in, and click on the account in the left sidebar.
- In the middle menu, under “Available data”, select Hike.
- Under “Name/Phone”, select your iPhone’s name.
- You can now preview chats in the right sidebar.
- Click on Extract in the bottom right corner.
- You can now choose the file format for the Hike messages:
- CSV: Saves all chats inside one large text file; hard to preview.
- HTML: Saves messages in a browser-friendly file, separated into categories and accompanied by images.
- Choose a name and location, then click OK. You’ll see an “Extraction successful” notification.
2. Extracting the database
Using the same software (and many others), you can extract the SQL database that contains Hike messages. Repeat steps 1 through 4 above then switch to the Expert Mode tab. Use the file tree below to navigate to Application Domains > com.bsb.hike > Library > com.hike.database.private. Highlight the file named messagesDB.sqlite and click on Extract in the bottom right corner.
4. Restore chats from Hike via data recovery software
If you’ve read our guide on recovering Instagram chat, more specifically method 4, you know that app data leaves traces. Data recovery software, whether used directly on Android and iOS or Windows or Mac with smart devices connected, tries to piece the fragments together. If you’re sure you haven’t chosen a custom data path for the backup, you can save time by only searching for addresses laid out in method 2, step 1 above instead of the whole storage.
