iPhone Contacts app stuck on Lists

Select “all contacts”

Hello Bob2337,

Thanks for posting in the Apple Support Communities.

It sounds like you're unable to use the Contacts app on your iPhone with the latest iOS update, right?

If we have that correct, let's give the following steps a try to see if we can clear this up for you. For starters, confirm you closed the app using the same method as shown below. You can also find more details on this, here: Close an app on your iPhone or iPod touch - Apple Support

iPhone X and later

1. From the Home Screen, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause in the middle of the screen.

2. Swipe right or left to find the app that you want to close. 

3. Swipe up on the app's preview to close the app.

If that doesn't clear this up, you can try restarting with the steps of the following resource. It sounds like you tried to force restart, so check out the steps below: Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

1. Press and quickly release the volume up button.

2. Press and quickly release the volume down button.

3. Press and hold the side button.

4. When the Apple logo appears, release the side button.

If this still doesn't clear up what's occurring with the Contacts app, reach out to Apple Support directly to check into this in more detail.

Have a great day!

Delete the Contacts app, Then go to the App Store and download it again.

Sorry about double post. Don't see a Delete Post.

Nope.

There is NO "All Contacts" link displayed.

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Also stuck in Lists screen here AGAIN.

What is the difference between the supposed Contacts screens with "Contacts" at the top and "iCLoud" at the top.? Is one stored on the phone and the other on the cloud? I KNOW they're supposed to be the same list, but why the change in title?

Selecting the iCloud choice in the "Lists" screen shows a contacts list with "iCloud" at the top instead of "Contacts".

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Selecting the 'Phone' app, then Contacts from the bottom menu always shows "Contacts" at the top.

I Deleted the Contacts app then reloaded from Apple Store and it's back to original "Contacts" at the top, but made same error again because the UI is so irregular between apps.

I also rebooted.

This is very user hostile to have random changes.

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This is an iPhone SE running 16.4.1.(a) {due for update}.

No other Apple devices

My screen looks just like Bob2337's above in the thread.

I find it to be very user-friendly, and a HUGE improvement over the previous version that did not let you manage lists within the Contacts app.

The Contact app will show the name of the source of the contacts being displayed; it will say iCloud if you are syncing your contacts to iCloud, AOL for AOL contacts, likewise gmail, Yahoo, MS Exchange, btinternet, Spectrum, etc. I have contacts from 5 different email accounts, so my List view shows all of them; here is a partial screenshot (I have 3 more email accounts that appear on subsequent pages of the List screen):

If I tap All Contacts it shows all of them, and it will remember that setting the next time I open it, unless I foolishly force quit the Contacts app, which causes it to restart with its default screen.

If you have only one source of contacts, you won’t see All Contacts, because they are all in one list. But it will still show the List page because it gives me the chance to add a list, and when you tap on the name of the list it will show that at the top.

The phone app always shows all contacts, so it will just say Contacts at the top.

Bob2337,

Thanks. What happens when you tap on "All iCloud" from the list shown in the screenshot?

Cheers.

No, it is excellent design. If your email address is xyzzy@icloud.com you have an iCloud email account. And if it is plugh@aol.com you have an AOL account. So you would have 2 lists, one for ALL AOL and another for All ICLOUD plus ALL CONTACTS.

But if you only sync contacts to your iCloud account you will only see ALL ICLOUD. The fact that there are other iCloud features is irrelevant, as it is Contacts in this app it pretty clearly means all contacts associated with iCloud, not iCloud backup, or iCloud Photos, or any of the other dozen or so iCloud features. Perhaps the label should be ALL ICLOUD EMAIL SYNCED CONTACTS, but that is implied by the fact that this is the contacts app.

And, btw, those contacts are not using any iCloud space unless you turn on the iCloud sync setting in Settings/[your name]/icloud-contacts.

Lawrence F - You're not reading or understanding some of these posts, and your insistence on "just click All Contacts" doesn't help **when there is NO All Contacts option visible**.

The only fix that worked for my iPhone 13 running the very latest iOS was the steps listed by ASteveofMany on the first page of this (currently) 4 pages of posts. That gave me the All Contacts option back and I was able to use the Contacts app again.

I keep getting that error also, I just went to the drop down and selected my phone book and it brought up my list. I tried everything like you did in your questions. A very anoying bug.

Hello Bob2337,

Perfect. That is exactly what we want to happen. When you tap on all iCloud, that will show all the contacts you have saved. This is expected behavior.

Let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Kindest regards. 

New iPhone 14 Pro, had similar problem, Contacts stuck on List view. Then I managed to mess it up on my old phone too! I did not see your response until I was feverishly swiping and going crazy over this feature, which I am not a fan, b/c I could not make it stop! I never knew it even existed! Thankfully, after all the swiping over and over....finally it appears to have closed and no longer when I push contracts to I get that annoying list feature! (Unless I want to click on it). Therefore, I believe your suggested fix may work for some. Good luck all.

The issue is what you are presented to look at and why - NOT how to figure it out all the time. I know contacts are saved on the phone AND iCloud. What am I looking at and why are there two titles if there isn't a reason for having two of them?

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As I said, I can Select the available iCloud option, close then reopen the app and it shows 'Contacts' at the top.

Contacts are contacts. iCloud also has other data that I have on the phone, so it is technically a poor choice for a title and not user friendly as you can plainly see from questions about it.

If people can't figure it out from what is presented, it is very poor software design -- because it CAN be done so it DOES work that way.

There are so many other 'device' problems we must fight with on a daily basis, this is just another of dozens that are clearly very poorly thought out and clearly user hostile. Apple completely lost the concept of user friendliness.

We're forced to have an iCloud account smaller than the phone's memory and suffer from constant badgering that iCloud it running out of space. . .

.

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This is a growing problem. I've been in software development long enough to know that Web page usability has been in decline for quite a while and we have medical software already making mistakes for us.

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With the large amount of memory and the processing speed we now have, if you can't figure something it should grab you by the throat, slap you around and push the buttons for you. . .

When I started, we would have killed for this kind of technology.

It's not your fault, but _IS_ poor design, if you can even call it design.

I'm sorry, but when you spend a career dedicated to the highest quality, then have to deal with this, it is frustrating.