Investigating Android Google Messages
19/06/2026 Friday
Google Messages is a messaging application used on Android devices for
text messages, multimedia messages, and conversation-related data.
Message content, sender details, conversation information, timestamps,
message status values, and attachment details may be stored by the
application.
Digital Forensics Value of Android Google Messages
Similar to other applications that provide messaging features, Android
Google Messages can be a valuable source of communication evidence in
mobile investigations. The artifacts left by the application may contain
message content, sender information, participant or conversation names,
sent and received timestamps, message direction, read or seen status,
MIME type, and attachment references. These elements can be used to
reconstruct communication timelines, identify involved contacts, verify
whether messages were sent or received, and correlate messaging activity
with other device events.
Location of Android Google Messages
Android Google Messages artifacts can be found at the following
location:
Dump/data/data/com.google.android.apps.messaging/databases/bugle_db
The bugle_db database is used by Google Messages to store message
records and related application data.
Analyzing Android Google Messages Artifacts with ArtiFast
This section will discuss how to use ArtiFast to extract Android Google
Messages artifacts from Android machines files and what kind of digital
forensics insights can be gained from the artifacts.
After a case has been created and evidence has been added for the
investigation, at the Artifact Selection phase, the Android Google
Messages artifact parser can be selected:
×
Once ArtiFast parsers plugins complete processing the artifact for analysis, it can be reviewed via Artifact View or Timeline View, with indexing, filtering, and searching capabilities. Below is a detailed description of Android Google Messages artifact in ArtiFast.
Android Google Messages
- Message Date/Time: The date and time when the message was sent are shown.
- Message Type: The message MIME type is recorded.
- Participant/Conversation Name: The message participant or conversation name is shown.
- Attachment Size: The attachment size is recorded.
- Sender Number: The message sender phone number is shown.
- Attachment URL: The attachment URL is recorded.
- Message Body: The body of the message is shown.
- Message Received Date/Time: The date and time when the message was received are recorded.
- Sender Name: The sender name associated with the message is shown.
- Message Direction: Indicates whether the message is incoming or outgoing.
- Sender Normalized Phone Number: The normalized phone number of the sender is recorded.
- Is Seen: Indicates whether the message was seen.
- Is Read: Indicates whether the message was read.
For more information or suggestions please contact: enes.cihan@forensafe.com
