SQLite databases are widely used by smartphones, especially Android and iOS devices, for data storage and organization of structured or relational data, such as contacts, SMS, MMS, call history, application data, and so on. Each database consists of one or more pages, which are logical units that store data.¹

A great deal of information about SQLite database structures and uses can be found at https://www.sqlite.org/docs.html.

SQLite databases were invented in 2000 by D. Richard Hipp from General Dynamics while he was working on Guided Missile Destroyers for the U.S. Navy. SQLite databases are relational databases that are used to store, access, and modify data. SQLite databases are OS Portable and supported on Windows, Linux, iOS, OS X, and Android platforms, making them ideal for smartphone applications.

SQLite is also popular because it’s open source, free, and doesn’t require licensing. SQLite is supported by Perl, Python, Java, PHP, and Ruby scripting languages, making it ideal for forensics purposes. It is optimized for small/medium applications like smartphones, but it is not as fast as commercial databases for large datasets. SQLite database sizes can range from 512 bytes to 281 TB.¹

Most every phone operating system we discuss will utilize SQLite databases, and this is great for examinations because the databases are often not encrypted and contain deleted data. You have many options to include commercial tools and free scripts that are capable of carving out the deleted items from the free pages, but it is just as easy to view deleted content by viewing the database in a hex viewer.

Reference:

[1] https://for585.com/1baqh (SQLite.org)