The Past for iChat is a very simple viewer for iChat chat log files.

Unfortunately the new and improved Messages.app coming with macOS Big Sur can't open old .ichat or .chat files anymore. Such chat logs got written by the older iChat application.
The Past for iChat application tries to solve that and can display a wide range of iChat chat log files.

How to find your iChat chat logs? Search for them in Finder.

The demo is currently expired, the plan is to release a new version later this year. Thanks for your patience!
Try it before you buy it to make sure it can open your very special files: Past for iChat Demo.app.zip. If it can't, please contact us!

The application itself requires macOS Big Sur. It is written entirely in the new SwiftUI.
Try it out for free! Download the time and feature restricted demo version: Past for iChat Demo.app.zip

Support

Looking for help with Past for iChat? Check out the: Support page.

Credit where credit is due!

@martinlexow for his help to get the chat bubbles look nicer.

The app uses the nice IGIdenticon package to generate icons.