Co-parenting apps help you communicate going forward. CustodyComms organizes the messages you already have, texts, emails, OFW, AppClose, TalkingParents, into one clear record you can hand to an attorney. Below: video walkthroughs of every step. There is also a free AI assistant trained on the product itself.
Step-by-step exports for WhatsApp, SMS, email, OurFamilyWizard, AppClose, coParenter, and any CSV. Most sections link to the platform’s own help page so you can verify each step at the source.
CustodyComms imports the original message data, texts, emails, app exports, not pictures of it. Timestamps, senders, and source files are preserved. Every file is hashed on import so any later question about modification has a documented answer.
Read the screenshots questionCo-parenting apps document new conversations on their platform. CustodyComms imports the years of history that lived elsewhere, iMessage, Gmail, OFW exports, AppClose, TalkingParents, into one chronology with chain of custody.
Read what's in an exportTools like Logikcull and Relativity start at five figures a month and assume a litigation-support team. CustodyComms runs on your laptop, works the same day you install it, and keeps your messages on your machine.
See pricingEach step has a short walkthrough and the articles that go with it.
Drop in iMessage, Android SMS, Gmail, OurFamilyWizard, TalkingParents, AppClose, and more. CustodyComms reads each source on your computer, hashes the original file with SHA-256, and merges everything into a single chronological record.
What this looks like in CustodyCommsNo. Screenshots stop scaling at thirty messages. CustodyComms imports the original message data — not pictures of it — keeping each timestamp, sender, and source. Every source file gets a SHA-256 hash on import, so any later question about whether something changed has a documented answer.
Read full articleCustodyComms imports an iMazing .csv export of your iPhone messages, the same way it imports a WhatsApp .txt chat export. Apple does not include a way to export iMessage conversations, so use a desktop tool that reads an iPhone backup, such as iMazing (Mac and Windows), and export the conversation as a CSV file. CustodyComms does not import iMazing's PDF or TXT exports. In the desktop app, click "Import Messages" in the left sidebar. Under "Where are your messages from?", click "Apple iMessage", then click "Choose File" and pick the .csv file. A group chat that iMazing labels with a group name, instead of a person, may not be imported. One-to-one conversations in the same file import normally.
Read full articleAndroid imports use an XML backup file. CustodyComms reads the .xml file that the SMS Backup & Restore app creates. In the desktop app, click "Import Messages" in the left sidebar. Under "Where are your messages from?", click "Android SMS", then click "Choose File" and pick the .xml file.
Read full articleWhen you import a CSV, CustodyComms maps your columns to the fields it needs (timestamp, message body, sender, receiver) using one of two paths: automatic mapping when CustodyComms recognizes your file's shape, or manual mapping when it doesn't. ## Auto-mapping vs manual mapping Both paths end up at the same data; auto-mapping is just a shortcut when CustodyComms is confident. Manual mapping is the stable interface — auto-mapping behavior evolves as we add platform support. - Automatic mapping triggers when CustodyComms recognizes your file as one of six named platform formats, or detects timestamp + sender + body columns at high confidence. You see a pre-filled mapping screen with "Use Auto-Mapping" and "Map Manually" buttons. Confirm to proceed. - Manual mapping triggers when CustodyComms can't auto-detect, or when you click "Map Manually" to override. The full Column Mapping screen opens with drag-and-drop chips for every field. You can always click "Map Manually" to take over. Auto-mapping is a shortcut, not a black box. ## Named formats These are recognized at 0.95 confidence (very high). If your CSV came from one of these and the column headers are intact, CustodyComms pre-fills the mapping and shows a quick approve / override step. - Signal Export — required headers: sent_at, type, conversationId, plus a phone column and a full-name column. From third-party Signal export tools. - Discord Export — required headers: Author name, Message content, plus Attachments or Reactions. From DiscordChatExporter or Discord's "Request my Data". - WhatsApp Export — required headers: Date and Time, Name, Message. From WhatsApp CSV exporters. - iMessage Export — required headers: From, To, From Name, To Name. From iMazing or similar Mac/iOS export tools that emit CSV. - Android SMS / MMS Export — required headers: address, type, thread_id, plus date or date_sent. From SMS Backup & Restore and similar. - Universal Message Schema — required headers: source, platform, chat_id, message_id, direction. CustodyComms's recommended canonical schema. If your CSV doesn't match a named format, Generic CSV (Auto-detected) still kicks in at 0.75 confidence when CustodyComms can identify a timestamp column, a sender column, and a message column with at least 70% confidence each. If neither path clears the threshold, you go straight to manual mapping. ## How auto-detection works For each of your column headers, CustodyComms compares the name against keyword banks and assigns a confidence score. Fuzzy matching means small differences (spaces, underscores, casing, hyphens) don't break detection. Common header names that auto-match: - Timestamp: timestamp, datetime, date, time, sent_at, created_at, date_sent, and many variants. - Message body: text, message, body, content, message_text. - Sender: from, sender, author, name, username, full_name, phone, email. - Receiver: to, recipient, receiver, to_name, destination. - Direction: direction, dir, type, inbound, outbound, in, out. - Contact (paired with direction): contact, party, phone, address. If your column header isn't on the list, manual mapping always works. The keyword banks evolve as we add platform support; if you need a stable interface that won't shift between releases, use manual mapping or rename your columns to canonical names like date, sender, message. ## Manual mapping screen When the Column Mapping screen opens — either because auto-detection didn't fire or because you chose to override — your headers appear as draggable chips in "Available to Map" at the top. Drag each chip into the drop zone for the field it represents. When a chip lands, it moves to "Already Mapped". To undo, click the X on the chip. Required fields: - Timestamp — either a single datetime column (e.g. 2026-04-15 14:32:01) or two columns, one date and one time. Pick the approach that matches your file. - Message content — one column with the message text. Optional participants: - Sender + Receiver mode — two columns: who sent each message, who received it. - Contact + Direction mode — one column with the other person's identifier (phone, name, email), plus a column that says whether each row is inbound or outbound. This is how Android SMS and many backup tools structure their data. If you skip participants, every message imports as "Unknown" → "Unknown" and you can fix it in Participant Mapping later. ## A working example CSV If you're building a CSV by hand, use this layout. Headers go in row 1. date,sender,message 2026-04-15 09:12:00,Alice,"Pick-up at 5?" 2026-04-15 09:14:22,Bob,"Running 10 min late." 2026-04-15 09:14:55,Alice,"Got it." Three columns is the minimum: a date/time column, a sender column, and a message column. CustodyComms auto-detects this layout as Generic CSV (Auto-detected) at 0.75 confidence and pre-fills the mapping. ## Limits, encoding, and file format - File size: up to 500 MB per CSV. Larger files may import but will be limited by your computer's available memory. - Encoding: UTF-8 strongly preferred. Latin-1 and Windows-1252 are tolerated as fallbacks. If your CSV came from Excel and shows odd characters, save it as CSV UTF-8 before importing. - Delimiters: comma, tab, semicolon, or pipe — auto-detected from the first few lines. - Header row required: row 1 must be column names. Files without headers import with generic names (Column_1, Column_2…), which forces manual mapping. - Quoted fields: messages with commas, line breaks, or quote characters must be wrapped in double quotes, with internal quotes escaped as "". Excel and Google Sheets do this automatically. - Timezone handling: CSV timestamps are parsed and stored in UTC. The Column Mapping screen does not include a timezone selector. Set the matter's timezone on Matter Setup after import; exports will then render timestamps in that zone. - Mapping memory: mappings apply only to the import you're running. Each new CSV gets its own mapping. ## Accepted direction values In Contact + Direction mode, CustodyComms reads your direction column to decide whether each row was sent by you or received. Values are case-insensitive. Sent by you: 2 (Android numeric); sent, send, outgoing, out, outbound; sent folder, sent items, sentbox, sent_folder; abbreviations s, o, t, y; true, yes; from_me, is_from_me, self; mo, mobile_originated, originated. Received from the other person: 1 (Android numeric); received, receive, incoming, in, inbound; inbox, inbox folder, received folder; abbreviations r, i, rec, inc, f, n; false, no; to_me, is_to_me, other; mt, mobile_terminated, terminated. Any other value defaults to received in user-facing output. Non-delivered statuses are filtered out rather than imported as evidence: 3 (draft), 4 (outbox / queued), 5 (failed), 6 (queued). If you need to keep these for completeness, change the value in your CSV before importing — but be aware drafts and failed sends weren't actually transmitted. ## What happens if some rows fail CustodyComms imports CSV files row-by-row. If a row has an unparseable timestamp or other malformed field, that row is skipped and the rest of the import continues. After the import you see a summary like "4,832 messages imported, 12 skipped". Skipped rows are not silently lost — the import log records the row index and reason for each skip on the matter's Chain of Custody. A high skip percentage usually means a date-format mismatch. ## Common troubleshooting - "Required field missing" or mapping won't proceed: the validation alert lists which fields are missing. The most common miss is using Contact + Direction mode but forgetting the Direction column. - Dates show wrong month or year: your file is likely in a date format CustodyComms guessed wrong (US vs international). - Garbled characters (’, é, £): file was saved as Latin-1 or Windows-1252. Open in Excel → File → Save As → CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) → re-import. - Messages run together as one big block: quote-escaping is broken. Re-save as CSV (UTF-8). - Sender shows as "Unknown": sender column has empty cells, or wrong column was mapped. Consider Contact + Direction mode if your data is structured that way. - Auto-detected format is wrong: your headers happened to match a named format that doesn't fit. Click "Map Manually" to take over, or rename one of the platform-specific headers to break the named-format match. - Many rows skipped: check the Chain of Custody log for the skip reason. Most often a date-format issue.
Read full articleMost matters span more than one source. CustodyComms imports each separately and merges them into one chronology keyed by the original timestamp. Filter by source ("only OFW") or by participant without losing the merged view. Each message keeps its source label and SHA-256 hash so you can always trace it back.
Read full articleMost failures are one of three things: wrong file type (Android Backup AB vs. SMS Backup XML), a partial download (incomplete Gmail Takeout), or a timezone mismatch. The Import log names the failing line and the fix. Re-importing is safe — messages are keyed by source-id and timestamp, so duplicates dedupe automatically.
Read full articleA date like 03/04/2024 is ambiguous: March 4th in US format, April 3rd in international format. CustodyComms scans your file for unambiguous dates (where one number is above 12, like 25/01/2024 or 3/20/2024) and auto-selects the right order when at least five of those exist. When every date is ambiguous, the import wizard asks you to choose between Month/Day/Year and Day/Month/Year before continuing. WhatsApp, TalkingParents, OurFamilyWizard, and AppClose all run through the detector; SMS/XML, MBOX, and coParenter use unambiguous timestamps and skip the prompt entirely. If you pick wrong, re-import with the other format — duplicate detection keeps things clean.
Read full articleA consolidated guide to exporting your records from WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Gmail, Outlook, Android SMS, iPhone SMS, OurFamilyWizard, AppClose, coParenter, TalkingParents and any CSV. Most sections link to the platform's own help page. Then bring everything into one timeline you can search, filter, and document. The full guide renders on the article page.
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The Incident Finder reads the merged timeline and flags the patterns that matter, schedule changes, threats, escalation, long silences. AI Analysis then writes a neutral summary of each incident so you don't have to relive every word. Both run locally on your computer.
What this looks like in CustodyCommsEighteen categories cover the patterns common in custody matters: schedule disputes, pickup and drop-off issues, expenses, threats, coercive language, isolation attempts, substance references, and more. Each has documented detection rules in the app's Detection Reference panel. A single message can match multiple categories at once. Every flag tells you which rule fired so you can judge for yourself.
Read full articleThe Incident Finder reads your imported messages locally and surfaces the ones worth a second look. Eighteen categories from family law literature, four of them the Gottman patterns (criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling). It flags schedule disputes, escalation bursts, threatening language, unusual silences. It doesn't decide what matters legally — that conversation with your attorney just gets shorter.
Read full articleJohn Gottman's research identified four communication patterns that predict relationship deterioration: criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling. They catch tone — not just what was said, but how. The Incident Finder runs Gottman detection alongside the 18 categories so a schedule-change thread also surfaces contempt if it's there. Methodology in the desktop app's Help menu.
Read full articleMessage Review is at custodycomms.com/try. Upload an exported conversation; no install and no account are needed to see a first result. It reads the export, finds the incidents, and writes them up. On the Free tier you get one full Message Review a day, with 3 incidents written up; a second run the same day shows one incident, and the day turns over at midnight UTC. On either paid plan every incident is written up, with 500 Message Reviews a month. What happens to your upload is the one place CustodyComms works differently from the rest of the product, and the Privacy Policy says so in these words: "The try-the-product demo (/try) is not local-first. It is the only feature where a complete conversation is uploaded to us and processed in readable form." The file's extracted text is sent to OpenAI, and we hold that text and the resulting report for up to 24 hours, unless you send the report to your phone, in which case we keep it until you delete it. The uploaded file itself is not kept. If you do not want a conversation file processed on our servers, do not use the demo. The desktop app does not work this way: it reads your messages on your own computer.
Read full articleOnce an incident is flagged, AI Analysis writes a neutral one-paragraph summary so you don't reread the whole exchange. It names what happened, when, and which rules fired — no editorializing, no taking sides. Cloud AI calls OpenAI with store: false, which disables application-state storage there; it is not Zero Data Retention, and OpenAI may hold abuse-monitoring logs for up to 30 days under its standard API terms. API traffic is not used for model training. Free tier: 5 analyses/month. Evidence Edition: no monthly limit. A daily limit applies to cloud AI on every plan.
Read full articleEach incident gets a 0 to 10 severity score. It is built from the categories a message matched and how heavily each one weighs, whether the wording is aimed at someone, length and capitals, and punctuation intensity; the incident's score then reads across the messages in it rather than taking any single one. The Gottman patterns are four of the categories, not a separate signal. It is a triage hint, not a verdict: a 9 means look at it before the 3s, not that it matters legally. Your attorney decides what is actually relevant.
Read full articleDetection favors recall over precision — better to flag something benign than miss something important. Read the incident list as a triage order rather than a verdict: a high score means look at it first, not that it matters legally. Your attorney decides what is relevant.
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Pick a date range and an export preset. CustodyComms generates a Bates-numbered PDF, a SHA-256 manifest, and an FRE 902(14) certification template a qualified person can sign in-app. Each export records what it contains, no hidden inclusions.
What this looks like in CustodyCommsAn FRE 902(14)-structured export groups the records, their metadata, and a certification template. A qualified person (your IT professional, a forensic examiner, or another individual competent to speak to the integrity of the process) signs the certification. CustodyComms prepares the file layout; the signer completes the authentication.
Read full articleIn Export settings, set a prefix (often your case number or a party identifier) and a starting number. Numbering carries across message PDFs and attachments. A cover sheet records the full range for the opposing party.
Read full articleThree presets. Quick Print: a chronological PDF for first-meeting discussions. Family Law Standard: cover page, TOC, matter info, source verification, which is what attorneys usually want for working files. Forensic: the full FRE 902(14)-structured package with Bates numbers, SHA-256 manifest, certification template, and audit trail. Family Law Standard turns the FRE 902(14) certification on as well, so the difference between it and Forensic is the Bates numbering, the manifest and the audit trail rather than the certification. Pick what your attorney is asking for.
Read full articleA Forensic export: cover page, table of contents, Bates-numbered message PDFs, attachments referenced by Bates page, CSV for spreadsheet tools, SHA-256 manifest of every source file, audit-trail log, and the FRE 902(14) certification template. The app previews exactly what's included before you finalize. No hidden inclusions.
Read full articleOn import, CustodyComms records each source file's SHA-256 hash. On export, it re-hashes and compares. If any byte changed since import, the export is blocked rather than produced. Catches edits outside the app, bit rot, and partial copies. On by default; can't be disabled for Forensic exports.
Read full articleAsk the assistant, it knows the rest of the library too. For account or billing issues a human should see, contact support.
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