What’s Your Number? 7 Tricks Inside the iPhone Contacts App
The Contacts app on iPhone and iPad does more than store phone numbers. With iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, you can message multiple people, create contact widgets, and more.
The Contacts app on your iPhone and iPad is a useful way to manage contact information for family, friends, colleagues, and everyone else in your life. But you can also use it to create multiple contact lists, message contacts, export lists, turn contact info into a widget, and more.
Many of these features only work with iOS 16 or iPadOS 16 or higher, so go to Settings > General > Software Update to make sure you’re up to date or install the latest version. The tips below cover the steps on iPhone, but it’s largely the same on iPad as well.
1. Create Multiple Contact Lists
By default, all your contacts are stored in one list, but you can split them into separate lists: one for family, one for friends, one for colleagues, etc. Open the Contacts app and tap the Lists link in the upper-left corner of your main Contacts list. Select Add List, enter a name, and tap Done.
Repeat this process as needed. To rename a list, press down on the list and tap Rename. To remove a list, long-press on it and tap Delete.
Add people to a new list by tapping one from the Lists screen and selecting Add Contacts on the empty page. Select the individual contacts you want to add, then tap Done. Note that you can add someone to more than one list. If a list is already populated with contacts, tap the plus (+) icon to add more people.
Another way to add contacts to a list is to drag and drop them. You can do this if you open your main contacts list, then press down on the name of a contact and drag it slightly. With another hand or finger, tap Lists in the upper-left corner. Drag the contact onto a specific list to add them.
To remove a contact from a list you created, open the list, swipe the person’s name to the left, and tap Remove. Note that removing someone from a created list does not remove them from the main contact list./.
2. Message an Entire Contact List
Rather than communicating with individual contacts, you can reach out to all the people in an entire list in one shot. To do this, return to the Lists screen and press down on the list you wish to use. From the menu, choose Email All to compose an email or Message All to write a text. When you send the message, all individuals on the list will receive it.
3. Merge Duplicate Contacts
The Contacts app can now automatically detect and merge duplicate contacts. To check this, tap All Contacts from the Lists screen. If any duplicates are discovered, a message appears at the top telling you how many were found. Tap the View Duplicates link to view them. You can then tap Merge All > Merge Duplicates to merge each duplicate account into one contact or choose Ignore All to leave the duplicates in place.
4. Export a List
You can export a list from the Contacts app to save it for use elsewhere or share it with another person. At the Lists screen, press down on the list you want to save or share and choose Export. Select the method or destination, such as AirDrop, Messages, Mail, Quick Note, or Files.
5. Share a Specific Contact’s Info
If you need to share a contact’s info with someone, you don’t have to send every detail. Press down on the name of the contact in a list and choose Share, or open the card for the contact you wish to share and tap Share Contact. Under the person’s name, tap Manage Shared Info.
Tap the fields you don’t want to share to deselect them and then tap Done. So if you needed to share someone’s phone number, you don’t also have to give away their email and street addresses. Now choose the app or person with which you want to share the card, and only the fields that are selected will be included.
6. More Quick Actions Menu Options
Press down on the name of a contact, and a Quick Actions menu pops up. From the menu, you can message, call, or email the contact. You can also pay them using Apple Cash, copy or share the contact card, remove the contact from the current list, or delete the card entirely.
7. Add Contact Info as a Widget
If you frequently need to access information for specific contacts, you can add those people to a widget. To do this, swipe to the right on the home screen until you reach the widgets screen. Tap the Edit button at the bottom, then tap the plus (+) icon at the top. Swipe down the screen until you reach the list of apps, then select Contacts.
You can choose from three different types of widgets showing one, four, or six contacts. After selecting your preferred widget, tap the Add Widget button and then tap Done. By default, the widget displays the first one, four, or six contacts in your list.
To see different contacts, press down on the Contacts widget and select Edit Widget. Tap on the name of a contact you wish to replace with someone else and choose the contact you want to see from the All Contacts list.
You can also change the order of the contacts in the widget. Press down the name of a specific contact and drag it higher or lower until they all appear in your preferred order.
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com.
