User profile for user: gregthanas
gregthanas Author
User level: Level 1
25 points

Iphone does not recognize contact name during incoming call

I have the following problem on my iPhone 13: all incoming calls from my country of origin (Greece) towards my Greek number, do not show the contact name while the phone rings, but in the Recents tab everything appears with contact name.


More specifically:

  1. I am on roaming, country of origin GR (+30), currently in the Netherlands.
  2. Location set on iPhone: Greece
  3. All of my contacts are saved with the +30 prefix.
  4. Incoming calls from Greece arrive without the country prefix (+30) on the phone.
  5. Incoming calls from Greece do not show the contact name, but the number without prefix, when the phone rings.
  6. After the call ring is over, the call appears in the "Recents" tab with the contact name.
  7. For the last 4 months everything worked fine, but in the last 2 weeks (while I still was on some versions of ios16) it stopped working. I updated to ios17, but did not fix the issue.


We have tried everything with Apple support:

  1. Erase the data and use a clear phone with iOS 17.
  2. Toggle dial assist.
  3. Change location.
  4. Re-sync all contacts.


Nothing seems to resolve the issue. I have come to believe this is a bug that was triggered after a specific update of iOS 16, and when an incoming call without a region code arrives it does not show the contact name.


Please help me escalate the issue, this renders my phone useless. I notice there are other people also reporting the same issue here, see iPhone don’t recognize contact names in i… - Apple Community


iPhone 13

Posted on Oct 8, 2023 10:56 AM

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18 replies
User profile for user: Brittany1416
Brittany1416
User level: Community Specialist

Oct 9, 2023 2:09 PM in response to gregthanas

Hi gregthanas,


To help us better assist you, can you let us know if this is happening with all contacts, only certain ones, or only ones from that specific region? Since noticing this issue, has your device been restarted? If so, does restarting correct the issue temporarily, or is there no change?


You mentioned that you updated to iOS 17; is your device running iOS 17.0.3 at this time, or another version?


The above details will help us plan how to proceed.


Let's also check if there are any available carrier settings updates, so we can make sure that's not part of the issue. This link explains how to check: Manually update your carrier settings on your iPhone or iPad


When a carrier settings update is available, you'll be prompted to install it. Installation takes less than one minute, and you can keep using your device normally. If your carrier releases a mandatory update, you'll see an OK button instead of an Update button to let you know that the update was downloaded and installed.

If you dismiss the installation notification, you can manually update carrier settings by following these steps:

1. Make sure that your device is connected to Wi-Fi or a cellular network.
2. Tap Settings > General > About.
3. Follow the onscreen instructions to install your carrier update.
If you set up a new eSIM or insert a new SIM card into your iPhone or iPad, you might need to download the carrier settings for your new carrier.

To see the version of carrier settings on your device, tap Settings > General > About and look next to Carrier. To see additional carrier information, tap the version number. To verify that you have the latest carrier settings installed, contact your carrier.


Thanks!

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User profile for user: gregthanas
gregthanas Author
User level: Level 1
25 points

Oct 10, 2023 5:41 AM in response to ryane77

Hi ryane77,


what you state is half-true. The carrier sends the details, and then it is the responsibility of the phone to show the contact name. If the software is buggy / or expects other details from the carrier, it won't show the contact name.


The fact that the app SHOWS the contact name as soon as the call ring is over, indicates that the number sent by the carrier WAS there, and it was correct.


The app itself did not match with the correct name while it was on call.


Passing responsibilty to the carrier, without firstly investigating and exposing what the software expects from the carrier, is the easy solution. I would expect a more thorough investigation of the issue.


Being a software engineer myself, I find this approach of vaguely blaming the carrier very misleading and not helpful for the resolution of the issue.



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User profile for user: gregthanas
gregthanas Author
User level: Level 1
25 points

Oct 10, 2023 12:44 AM in response to Brittany1416

Hi,


The issue happens for all calls arriving from Greece. These calls appear without a prefix (which is normal, since my phone number is Greek). I have updated to the latest iOS and all kinds of updates have been installed. The phone has also been formatted.


The fact that the contact name does not appear during the incoming call, but later on, it (the name) shows up in the "Recent" tabs, indicates that there must be an iOS software bug causing this in some regions. Again, this used to work fine up to 2 weeks ago.

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Iphone does not recognize contact name during incoming call

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