MobileMobile & IoT ForensicsAndroid ForensicsExtract and examine Android phones, from ADB pulls to WhatsApp databases and ALEAPP reportsMagnet Forensics
Magnet ACQUIRE
Magnet ACQUIRE was Magnet Forensics' free acquisition tool for Android and iOS devices, later extended to computers. It no longer appears on Magnet's product or free tools pages. Its acquisition engine now lives inside Magnet Axiom.
UtilityFreeLegacy
Profile
- Manufacturer
- Magnet Forensics
- Category
- Mobile forensics
- Product type
- Utility
- Platforms
- Not stated by the manufacturer
- Licensing
- Free
- Product status
- Legacy
- Educational level
- Beginner
- Last verified
- 2 November 2026
Marked Legacy. On 2 November 2026 Magnet's product pages and free tools page did not list Magnet ACQUIRE and no end-of-life notice was found. The facts above come from Magnet's own May 2015 announcement and its May 2016 Axiom launch post, which says Axiom incorporates the ACQUIRE acquisition tool. Operating system and output formats are not stated on those pages.
What Magnet ACQUIRE is
Magnet announced ACQUIRE in May 2015 as a free tool that let an examiner image an iOS or Android phone or tablet. It offered two routes. Quick extraction combined documented logical methods into one image that worked on most devices. Full extraction went further on devices that allowed it: a physical image of a rooted Android device or a file system image of a jailbroken iOS device, which could recover more from unallocated space. A later Community Edition added imaging of computer drives, so a small unit could make a forensic image without a paid licence.
When Magnet launched AXIOM in 2016 it said the new platform incorporated ACQUIRE's acquisition engine and added analysis on top. That is where the tool's work now happens. On 2 November 2026 neither Magnet's product pages nor its free tools page listed ACQUIRE and no retirement notice was found, so the profile treats it as legacy rather than discontinued. For a learner the tool still teaches a clean lesson: acquisition and analysis are separate steps. A free acquisition tool is only useful if the image it makes can be verified and read by something else.
Primary applications
Where it is used
- Historically, quick logical images of Android and iOS devices
- Full images of rooted Android and jailbroken iOS devices where the state allowed
- Computer drive imaging through the Community Edition
- Producing images for analysis in Magnet IEF and later Magnet Axiom
Who uses it
- Examiners maintaining older case files made with the tool
- Students studying the history of mobile acquisition
- Small units that once used it for imaging without a paid licence
Capabilities and limits
Major capabilities
- Quick extraction producing a logical image from iOS and Android devices
- Full extraction for rooted Android and jailbroken iOS devices
- Free of charge at release, offered first as a beta to Magnet IEF customers
- Acquisition engine carried into Magnet Axiom in 2016
- Computer imaging in the later Community Edition
Technical limitations
- Not listed on Magnet's current product or free tools pages, so availability and support are uncertain
- Full extraction depended on rooted or jailbroken devices, which a lab must not create on evidence
- Modern encrypted phones give a logical image at best to a tool of this generation
- Any image it produced still has to be verified by hash and read by another tool
Learning with DFRTI
Independent professional education covering the principles and workflows of Magnet ACQUIRE. DFRTI is not a vendor training centre and its courses are not vendor certifications.
Before you learn it
- The difference between logical, file system and physical images
- Hash verification of an acquired image
Disciplines
Related tools
- Magnet AxiomAxiom is Magnet Forensics' main examination platform. It takes images and extractions from computers, phones, cloud accounts and vehicles into a single case and presents the artefacts side by side.Magnet Forensics
- Magnet GraykeyGraykey is Magnet Forensics' device access product for locked iOS and Android handsets. Magnet sells it only to public safety agencies in selected countries and vets every enquiry through an agency email address.Magnet Forensics
- Exterro FTK ImagerFTK Imager is the free tool most learners meet first. It makes forensic images of drives, folders and memory, verifies them with hashes and lets an examiner preview evidence before committing to a full acquisition.Exterro
- Cellebrite UFEDUFED is the name most examiners know for Cellebrite's phone extraction tool. Today it continues as the access and extraction part of the Inseyets suite.Cellebrite
Courses that cover this tool
MobileMobile & IoT ForensicsAndroid ForensicsExtract and examine Android phones, from ADB pulls to WhatsApp databases and ALEAPP reports
MobileMobile & IoT ForensicsiOS ForensicsBFU and AFU states, iTunes and Finder backups, the keychain and iLEAPP for iPhone cases
LegalFoundation & Legal CoursesBasics of Cyber ForensicsStart here. Evidence handling, imaging, hashing, chain of custody and your first analysis.Product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners. DFRTI is an independent educational and research institute. Inclusion in this directory does not imply manufacturer endorsement, partnership or authorisation. Facts are checked against the manufacturer's public documentation on the date shown and may have changed since.
Go deeper with DFRTI
Free pages explain the ground. Structured courses, lab work and a mentor take you from knowing about it to doing it on a case.