How does the contacts app sort when emojis are used as the first character?

Question

Level 1

8 points

How does the contacts app sort when emojis are used as the first character?

Hey everyone,

So I have a variety of contacts associated with different jobs I do and I have in the past always labelled those contacts with a specific emoji that links to the job category they are related to. For example in the picture red circle means pet sitting and blue circle means tutoring. This puts the contacts at the end of my contacts list (hence requiring the emoji to be at the beginning) and makes them stand out in my messages. It’s not a huge issue but what I’ve found is that contacts separates every individual contact that I format like this into its own # group. I have tried adding a space after the emoji, adding a number before the emoji, using a different emoji type, making sure the first alphanumeric character is the same and even using two emojis but they are all still separated.

I understand that this is not a huge issue and I could just get a different app to handle my contacts but I though I’d ask the community to see if maybe there’s something I’m missing.

Thanks!

iPhone 7

Posted on Dec 13, 2018 7:26 PM

Reply

Answer 1

MoonJ.

Community Specialist

Dec 23, 2018 6:22 AM in response to Tipprs

Hi Tipprs,

Thanks, we appreciate the follow-up. To look at another possibility, which iOS version are you using under Settings > General > About? iOS 12.1.2 is the latest, and updating to this may help in ruling out software causes. Here's How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

Kind regards.

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Answer 2

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Jan 23, 2019 6:08 AM in response to Tipprs

Hello Tipprs,

Thanks for the reply. If you're finding the issue still persists, at this point I recommend getting in contact directly with Apple using this link: Contact Apple Support.

Cheers.

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Answer 3

Tipprs Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 19, 2018 6:43 PM in response to rose_10

Thanks for the reply, I don't remember them ever showing up grouped but they may have.

I sort First, Last and changing this has no effect.

Restarting my phone also has no effect.

I use icloud to sync and on the website all emojis and numbers sort under the same # heading (screenshot attached).

Any thoughts on what that means?

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Answer 4

Tipprs Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 21, 2019 7:04 PM in response to MoonJ.

I have just updated to the most recent IOS and it hasn't fixed the issue. Any other thoughts would be appreciated!

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Answer 5

rose_10

Community Specialist

Dec 16, 2018 12:22 PM in response to Tipprs

Hello Tipprs,

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities. I understand you have a question about contact grouping in the Contacts app.

It looks like you're seeing your contacts with emojis in front being placed in individual groups marked with "#" instead of all being under the same "#" group, right? Have they ever shown up together for you before?

If you tap Settings > Contact > Sort Order, which one is selected? Does switching this seem to change the appearance?

If you Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, does that help?

Are you using iCloud, or any third-party sync services? If you're using iCloud, you might try to Use iCloud.com on a computer to see how they appear there. On the other hand, if you use third-party services like Outlook or Gmail, you might check the web-based version of your account (Gmail.com, for example) to see how they are sorting on that end.

I hope this helps get you started!

Take care.

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