Is there any way to copy your contacts to the sim?

And by the way, you are also totally wrong about having to pay Microsoft $5 a month to use Exchange via Google. I also sync with Gmail for free.

You also seem to have totally forgotten about the ability to sync via a a cable, and the fact that contacts can easily be exported as vCards (which retains more data than a SIM) which is an OPEN standard and can be imported into most other phones of the last decade.

Allan, cloud is a term. iCloud is service. Andriod phones have no acces to iCloud which is what Apple wants you to use.

I know "cloud" is a term and that Android phones have no access to iCloud. Copied from your post.

You have no idea that Andriod, Windows and Symbian phones do not access the cloud and that not everybody uses Microsoft Outlook because of the cost of purchasing it.

"Cloud" is a generic term and you didn't specify iCloud. iCloud is only one option for cloud storage, and there are others.

Additionally, iPhone does not allow you to back up contacts to Gmail and you can go check yourself. You would have to do a workaround via Exchange as you correctly stated but then you have to pay $5 per month to Microsoft for the privelege.

Incorrect. I'm accessing an iCloud account and a Gmail account as an Exchange account on my iPhone. Accessing a Gmail account as an Exchange account provides push access for received messages, and over the air syncing for Google contacts and calendar events, and I'm certainly not paying Microslop $5/mo for the privilege. A Gmail account can be accessed as a POP, IMAP, or Exchange account with the iOS Mail app and a Gmail account is free regardless how the account is accessed. Not sure where you are getting your info but it is wrong. Not sure if Microslop charges for a Hotmail account that is accessed as an Exchange account, but I doubt it. If you can provide a link indicating Microsoft charges $5/mo for accessing a Gmail account as an Exchange account, I'd like to see it.

Seriously now, go and check out Exchange and try to add a new GMail account (or modify an existing one if you have one set up on iPhone already) and see that there is no contacts option to synchronise.

On my iPhone for my Gmail account settings being accessed as an Exchange account - Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > My Gmail account, I have Mail to turn the email portion of the account on/off, and Contacts and Calendars to turn syncing Google contacts and calendars on/off for over the air syncing along with a Mail Days to Sync option and a Mail Folders to Push option.

This is "cloud" access for contacts and calendars events with a Gmail account that is seperate from Apple's iCloud service. One or the other or both can be used.

I am fortunate to have the Iphone 6 as an update to my work supplied 4s and I would prefer it if the contacts were treated discrete from other phone backups. I have wanted to restore my Iphone to that of another family members phone but doing this means a manual entry of all contact information.

What really bugs me is the term "smart phone".

"I would also like to point out that out of all the topics created in this section of the forum within the last 24 hours this is one of the most viewed by visitors and thus this question has stoked interest in knowing how to get this feature working... except they learnt harshly that it doesn't exist on their phone. I would imagine there were a couple of "Eh?!" moments when they found that out."

No, not at all. I come to the forums and look at topics that seem interesting and this has not stoked my interest in getting this feature working on my iPhone, because from the outset and from purchasing my very first iPhone, I have always known that you could not store contacts on an iPhone sim card and that is what iTunes is for instead. I never had an "Eh" moment as you call it, because I always knew that it could not be done and have accepted it and I have never had any problems with using iTunes.

I have used Android phones and a Windows phone in between my iPhones and have to say that I never used the feature of storing contacts on the sim card of the phone - wasn't a feature I ever needed, so when I went back to an iPhone again it never bothered me. Just synced to iTunes and that was it or I simply connected 2 phones via bluetooth and transferred my contacts in that way - that is how I transferred the contacts from my old iPhone to my new Windows phone when I purchased it.

You may find this Discussion of interest...

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1759858?answerId=8318008022#8318008022

Wow... that's umm... a pretty big oversight. Why would Apple forget to put such a feature into their phone?

(Not actually asking you why, more like typing out loud)

And aren't SIM cards limited to storing 250 contacts?

But Julian, ProjectVRD has already explained to us that no one wants or needs to store more than a name and a phone number. This need for all this silly extra data is all in our imaginations.

i think u cant store contact to ur sim but can backup to ur email by using MYCONTACT BACKUP

-

Message was edited by: pvonk

-

Bluetooth will transefer all your contacts to any other smart phone.

Bluetooth will not pair an iPhone with any other phone for the purpose of data transfer.

Sim cards have very limited storage. No, you can't store photos or music on it. All it does is pretty much hold your network subscription and your contacts. A SIM card can hold up to 200 KB of data, which is not very much. On older / different phones, you can import your device's contacts onto your SIM card and also export them onto your device. However, that is not the case with the iPhone. You can import SIM contacts your iPhone by going to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > tap the IMPORT SIM CONTACTS blue text (iOS 8). Unfortunately, there is no way to export your contacts to your SIM. But you can have them saved on iCloud if you turn the toggle on for Contacts on your iCloud settings. Hope this helps!

— Brian