Worse Query Files 0.7

Requires: iOS 26.0 – 26.7.2 or iOS 27. Tested on iOS 26.7.1, 27.0.1 and 27.2.
Needs: a sideloading tool that keeps the App Group entitlement. If the Log says "No App Group", re-sign with one that does; see Signing in the README.

Worse Query Files 0.7

iOS 27.2: app names are back

On iOS 27.2, apps and extensions showed up as long IDs without names, and the Cache Cleaner couldn't clean anything (#1, #7, #8, #9). iOS 27.2 stores the app database differently; WQ Files now reads it, and finds out which apps the containers belong to from it.

iOS 26 is supported (26.0 – 26.7.2)

• Apps, Extension Data and App Groups are listed from the app database. A full scan would take most of an hour on iOS 26; the database is found once and remembered.
• Internal Daemons need a full scan on iOS 26. The first one takes long and shows the time left; later ones only check new files.
• Icons are loaded from the app itself where iOS 26 hands out only a placeholder.
• System Data and System Groups can't be reached on iOS 26 and are hidden.

Faster scans

• Only the first scan is slow. Found containers are remembered; later scans check only files created since, with a full scan once a week.
• Leaving a screen no longer throws a scan away. It keeps running, and the next screen uses the result.
• Folder lists show progress while containers are read ("Reading containers… 120 of 360").

New

• Swipe to delete. Swipe a row left or right in the file browser to delete it. It asks first, like the long-press menu, and files are backed up before they're deleted.

Fixed

• Access that didn't work is noticed. On some setups iOS handed out access that didn't actually open the folders, so nothing had a name. WQ Files now checks every access and falls back to the other access method when needed.
• The Log says more: how long a scan took, which apps refused access, and how the app database was read.
• A cancelled scan is no longer reported as "no containers found".

Credit

Sandbox technique: worse_query by Taj C (forcequit). Container enumeration: KAMUI by murk-sus. Thanks to everyone who sent Logs from iOS 26 and 27.2. GPL-3.0-or-later.

SHA-256 of WQFiles.ipa: a02167446b03bca24b688bd33d57b4bec967f637e854084aba60e808df4fdaa3

Worse Query Files 0.6

Requires: iOS 27. Tested on iOS 27.0.1 (iPhone 17 Pro Max); other iOS 27 versions are untested.
Needs: a sideloading tool that keeps the App Group entitlement. If the Log says "No App Group", re-sign with one that does; see Signing in the README.

Worse Query Files 0.6

Cooler, faster scans

• One scan instead of three. Apps, extensions and the app name database are found in a single pass, which is reused for 10 minutes. Pull down on Apps, Cache Cleaner or a folder to scan again, for example after installing an app.
• Scans run cooler. They use at most four CPU cores at a lower priority, so the device stays cooler on phones with many files.
• No more "stuck at 100%". The first time app names are loaded, the screen shows "Reading app names…" instead of standing still at "Finding apps… 100%".
• If the app name database isn't found, WQ Files doesn't search again at every start, only after a day or when you pull to refresh.

New

• Manage your backups. Tools → App Backups opens the app backups directly. Delete a single backup, or select several (Select / Select All) and delete them together. Deleting always asks first and can't be undone.
• Stop a cache clean while it runs. The Cache Cleaner stops after the current item and tells you how much was freed.
• Cancel a ZIP export while it's being prepared, instead of waiting for it to finish.
• iPad: all orientations are supported.
• Signing help: the README explains the App Group WQ Files needs, why wildcard profiles (Feather and similar) can't provide one, and how to sign instead.

Safer backups and restores

• Backups are checked before they're used. Each app backup records checksums of its contents. A backup that changed afterwards, or a safety backup that doesn't match, is refused instead of restored.
• Faster safety copies. Before a file is changed, WQ Files makes an instant copy-on-write clone where the storage allows it, and checks free space before copying large files.
• Every change is backed up, also for files in WQ Files' own folder.
• A restore can't start while an earlier one still needs repairing, so recovery data is never overwritten.

Safer file changes

• Links are never followed when creating, deleting, renaming or cleaning, and they're shown as links rather than as the files they point to.
• Copies stop if the source changes while it's being copied, instead of producing a mixed copy.
• After saving in the hex viewer, the changed bytes are read back and checked.
• The backup folders can't be edited by accident in the file browser; only complete backups can be deleted, from their own actions.
• Interrupted access requests are repaired at the next start. WQ Files briefly redirects one of its own folders to get access to a container; if it was closed in that moment, the folder is put back.

Fixed

• Plist editor: files created by NSKeyedArchiver no longer crash the editor. Old OpenStep plists and unknown formats open read-only.
• Cache Cleaner: sizes that couldn't be fully measured are marked instead of shown too small, and only fully measured apps can be cleaned. It now reminds you to close the apps first.
• Hex viewer: offsets are checked properly (hex or decimal, nothing past the end), and Find starts over when you search for something new.
• App names: the app database is read more carefully and refreshed when it changes, without rescanning in the background every few seconds.
• Apps list: a container scan that can't be fully confirmed keeps what it found instead of showing an empty list; the reason is in the Log.
• Copy Identifier copies the bundle ID.
• Folder views refresh outdated sizes and details.
• Smoother: plists, text, images and hex views are prepared in the background, and long lists are cached.
• The app now requires iOS 27, so it can't be installed on iOS versions where it doesn't work.

Credit

Sandbox technique: worse_query by Taj C (forcequit). Container enumeration: KAMUI by murk-sus. GPL-3.0-or-later.

SHA-256 of WQFiles.ipa: 73fc5790e9b9bec968c0253627356436c17bb6465b412683eff2700764e6e633

Worse Query Files 0.5

Tested on: iOS 27.0.1 (iPhone 17 Pro Max). Other iOS 27 versions are untested.
Needs: a sideloading tool that keeps the App Group entitlement. If the Log says "No App Group", re-sign with one that does.

Worse Query Files 0.5

New

• AltStore / SideStore source. Add https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kolbicz/WQFiles/main/source.json to get updates automatically.
• The Log starts with the WQ Files version, device and iOS version, also when you share it. Please include it when reporting a problem.

Safer editing

• Files changed by something else are not overwritten. If a file changed after you opened it, saving stops and asks you to reopen it.
• A failed save puts the original contents back.
• Unsaved edits are protected in the plist editor, hex viewer and text editor: Back, Home and the swipe-back gesture ask before discarding, and edits made while a save runs are kept.

Safer restores

• An interrupted restore is repaired at the next launch. If WQ Files is closed in the middle of a restore, the app's previous data is put back from its safety backup.
• Restores are exact. If the backup has no Documents or Library, the current one is emptied too, instead of being kept.

Fixed

• Apps list on some devices: containers WQ Files can't fully access or identify are listed with an explanation instead of being hidden, and the bundle ID lookup is retried after access is granted. This may fix an empty Apps list on iOS 27.2 (#1); please send your Log if it doesn't.
• Scans stop when you leave a screen and don't show results from an earlier scan.
• A quieter Log: routine scan lines are gone; failures are still logged.

Credit

Sandbox technique: worse_query by Taj C (forcequit). Container enumeration: KAMUI by murk-sus. GPL-3.0-or-later.

SHA-256 of WQFiles.ipa: f871b0bbbce400f5df67531f0d82ea2c62cf76d58b26d69c7231f8aa10ae0215

Worse Query Files 0.4

Tested on: iOS 27.0.1 (iPhone 17 Pro Max). Other iOS 27 versions are untested.
Needs: a sideloading tool that keeps the App Group entitlement. If the Log says "No App Group", re-sign with one that does.

Worse Query Files 0.4

New

• Plist editor. Browse dictionaries and arrays, edit values by type (switches for booleans, numbers, text, dates, data as hex), add, delete, rename and reorder. Saves in the file's own format (binary or XML), with a backup first.
• Hex viewer and editor. Works on files of any size and fits as many bytes per row as the screen allows, with Go to Offset and Find (hex bytes or text). Overwrite bytes in place; changed bytes are highlighted until saved, and the file size never changes.
• Files open in the right tool based on their contents. Long-press a file, or use the ⋯ menu, for Open As Plist Editor, Text / Image or Hex Viewer.
• Search bar in App Data, App Groups, Extension Data, Internal Daemons and every folder: filter by app name, bundle ID or file name.
• Home button next to Back, to jump straight to the start screen from deep folders.
• Readable path at the top of each folder (it used to shrink in the navigation bar). Tap it to copy.

Improved

• Files that only their owner can read (like the hidden container metadata plists, owned by root) now say so instead of showing "errno 13".
• Files you can read but not change open read-only, so you don't find out only when saving.

Credit

Sandbox technique: worse_query by Taj C (forcequit). Container enumeration: KAMUI by murk-sus. GPL-3.0-or-later.

SHA-256 of WQFiles.ipa: 31baa49aa716389c9973470ae18c945785bf5e13aa78d4357cfee6b11b8420f6

Worse Query Files 0.3

Tested on: iOS 27.0.1 (iPhone 17 Pro Max). Other iOS 27 versions are untested.
Needs: a sideloading tool that keeps the App Group entitlement. If the Log says "No App Group", re-sign with one that does.

Worse Query Files 0.3

Safer backups and restores

• App backups are only kept when complete. A backup is built in a hidden folder and appears only once every file was copied. A failed or interrupted backup leaves nothing behind that could be restored by mistake.
• Restore can be undone and rolls back on failure. Before restoring, the app's current data is backed up ("before restore"). If any part of the restore fails, that data is put back automatically.
• Pick which backup to restore, not only the newest. Backups made by 0.1 and 0.2 still show up, marked "older, unverified".

Fixed

• Clear Data and the Cache Cleaner no longer report success when a folder couldn't be read; they say it was only partly cleared.
• Two saves of the same file within one second no longer overwrite each other's backup.
• Large files are copied in chunks when backing up, sharing, importing or restoring, instead of being loaded into memory. Importing no longer freezes the screen.
• Saving now reports write errors that only show up when the file is flushed to disk.

Credit

Sandbox technique: worse_query by Taj C (forcequit). Container enumeration: KAMUI by murk-sus. GPL-3.0-or-later.

SHA-256 of WQFiles.ipa: da00372c37fc2be8ad3f9171e85712906d57858197cfbb4549bce5a58e6f5da0

Worse Query Files 0.2

Tested on: iOS 27.0.1 (iPhone 17 Pro Max). Other iOS 27 versions are untested.
Needs: a sideloading tool that keeps the App Group entitlement. If the Log says "No App Group", re-sign with one that does.

Worse Query Files 0.2

Fixed

• Apps you installed were missing (Apps, Cache Cleaner, App Data, Extensions). Only Apple's apps showed up on devices that have been in use for a while. The container scan now covers the whole data volume instead of stopping early, and runs on all CPU cores so it stays quick. The Log shows how far it scanned.

Credit

Sandbox technique: worse_query by Taj C (forcequit). Container enumeration: KAMUI by murk-sus. GPL-3.0-or-later.

SHA-256 of WQFiles.ipa: d285b65c567eac9b785e039cc356f918beea68cdb4902ff292678d2558657cae

Worse Query Files 0.1

Tested on: iOS 27.0.1 (iPhone 17 Pro Max). Other iOS 27 versions are untested.
Needs: a sideloading tool that keeps the App Group entitlement. If the Log says "No App Group", re-sign with one that does.

Worse Query Files 0.1

First release of WQ Files, a file browser, app data manager and cache cleaner for iOS 27. No jailbreak and no kernel exploit: it uses the worse_query sandbox technique ("WQ").

What it does

• Browse every app's data container, app groups, extension and daemon containers, system groups and System Data, with real app names and icons.
• Apps: back up, restore and clear an app's data, or share a backup as a ZIP over AirDrop.
• Cache Cleaner: cache and temp size per app, Select Large Caches (50 MB+), crash logs, long-press to jump to an app's caches or tmp folder.
• Edit text and plist files in place, import files, rename, delete. Overwritten and deleted files are backed up first and can be restored.

Be careful

Editing other apps' or system files can break them. Clearing data and cleaning caches cannot be undone without a backup, so back up first.

Credit

Sandbox technique: worse_query by Taj C (forcequit). Container enumeration: KAMUI by murk-sus. GPL-3.0-or-later.

SHA-256 of WQFiles.ipa: 44fbbb44a11bb8bba3b43c1afa755bdb27e703521964e5fa0327d7cb2f82f211