Contact added from SMS or Recently Called List Does Not Appear in iPhone Contact List

Question

Level 1

4 points

Contact added from SMS or Recently Called List Does Not Appear in iPhone Contact List

I ran into a incredibly frustrating problem recently whereby any phone number that I attempted to turn into a new contact, either using the "Add Contact" button under SMS / iMessages or the "Create New Contact" button under the Recently Called list (Recents), would not appear in my phone's main Contact list or in my Contacts app. I was however able to find it using my iPhone's "Spotlight" search. (Swipe to the left and search for the name)

After banging my head against the wall, taking my phone to the Genius Bar only to have them tell me there was not solution, banging my head against the wall again... I thought that I had finally found a solution by doing a "Reset All Settings" on my phone.

After doing the "Reset All Settings" any contact added from SMS or Recents appeared in my Contacts App as well as my Contact list. That is until I turned iCloud syncing on. Once iCloud syncing is turned on, any contact that had been previously added from SMS or my Recently Called list suddenly no longer appeared in the main contacts list.

This is a problem that others have had in the past although they're problems occured prior to iCloud arriving on the scene. Consequently their solutions don't work.

Their discussions related threads can be found here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2479312?answerId=12055131022#12055131022

here,

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2464503?start=15&tstart=0

and most recently here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3131035

If you are having this problem you can recreate it very simply by going to Settings > General > iCloud, I turn iCloud syncing off for "Contacts", select, "Keep on My iPhone" and then add a contact from SMS / Recents. The contact will appear under the main "Contacts" until you turn on syncing for "Contacts" under the iCloud settings.

Any and all insight to this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Justin

NOTE: This is for an AT&T iPhone

In my research on trying to determine why this happens, I discovered that it happens to Verizon phones as well but the problem is caused by a completely different bug and the solution is consequetnely completely different. For that problem search for *228 and you'll find what you're looking for.

iPhone 4, iOS 5.0.1, AT&T

Posted on Jan 22, 2012 5:20 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 24, 2012 12:13 AM in response to azz3879

Hi Justin,

I had a look at your problem (I'm the developer of cleanup). It could be the problem that your default addressbook is set to the incorrect addressbook. Can you try to change this to iCloud, that might help (hopefully).

On your device go to settings -> Email, Contacts, Agenda -> Scroll down to the 'contacts' section and choose there default account iCloud. This setting defines the default addressbook where your new contacts are saved.

Please let me know if this helps you out!

Grtz,

Wim de Nood.

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Answer 2

azz3879 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 24, 2012 2:16 PM in response to wimfromtilburg

Wim thank you for replying I appreciate your help. I am familair with the setting your referring to. While the setting exisits for selecting my default calendar as well as my default email address, under Contacts I am only given the option of "Sort Order", "Display Order", "My Info" for selecting who I am in my phone and "Import SIM Contacts.

Does your phone have the a default option of iCloud?

Thank you again for your reply.

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Answer 3

azz3879 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 14, 2012 12:07 PM in response to azz3879

Alright so... after weeks of giving this thought... getting some awesome help and trying lots of different things, I was finally, for sure, able to solve the problem I was having.

You see as a previous MobileMe user when I upgraded to iCloud my phone eliminated MobileMe - as it was supposed to - but when doing so it didn't eliminate it as the default account that new contacts were added to. It's a bit confusing but in the simplest terms, my phone was trying to add contacts to a location within it that did not exist, or at least to a location that the rest of my phone's operating system did not recognize.

Enter the awesome app developer Wim de Nood, creator of Cleanup: Remove Multiple Contacts Fast (link below), who's app had enabled other individuals with a similar but quite different problem resolve their issue.

Wim suggested that I confirm that my phone's default contact list was set to iCloud. This is found under Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > "Contacts Heading" > Default Contacts List. The problem was I didn't have the option to select my "Default Contacts List" the button was literally not there.

Wim then suggested that I install another app that he created called Mail Many (link below) which included a de-bug diagnostic which was designed to email him the info on how your phone's contacts list was setup. Upon sending Wim the diagnostic info, he informed me that the diagnostic indicated that my phone was still storing my contacts in the MobileMe "area" of my phone, an area the operating system didn't recognize. This is indicated by the the number 2 after the Default source ID, as seen here: Default source name: (null). Default source ID: 2

------------------

Diagnostic info

------------------

iOS Version: 5.0.1

iPad: 0

Sources:

Source name: (null). Source ID: 2. Source Size: 1

Source name: Card. Source ID: 4. Source Size: 995

Default source name: (null). Default source ID: 2

Wim then suggested I add an Exchange account to my phone. Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account. I already had several Gmail accounts syncing with my phone but those clearly weren't allowing me to select the Default Contacts List so I created a throwaway Gmail account and then added it to my phone via the Microsoft Exchange option under Add Account following the instructions found under the heading "Setting Up Google Sync with your iOS device" which can be found here:

http://support.google.com/mobile/bin/answer.py?hl=en&topic=14252&answer=138740

This listed the just added Gmail account under Accounts and under which the option to sync Contacts was included and turned on by default.

Unfortunately when I scrolled down to look for the area to select my Default Contacts list, the option still did not exist.

I was pretty bummed as I felt like I'd cracked the problem... no luck though.

After doing some thinking about it though, I went to Phone (app) > Contacts > Groups and saw that my Gmail Exchange listing had no contacts in it, as it was an account created solely for the purpose of trying to solve this problem. I then added a Test contact to the Gmail Exchange Group (clicked on the little + sign) and then went back and looked at the options under Settings > Contacts. Low and behold I now had the option to select a Default contact list!

I set set the default to the recently added Gmail Exchange account and added a contact from the Recents list under SMS / iMessages. I then went back and switched the Default setting to iCloud. Added another contact from Recent's and presto! My newly added contacts no longer disappeared!!!!

I ran the Diagnostic option again under the Mail Many app and low and behold now the default source ID was listed as 4 instead of 2 as seen here:

Default source name: Card. Default source ID: 4 - 4 meaning the default account was now iCloud.

------------------

Diagnostic info

------------------

iOS Version: 5.0.1

iPad: 0

Sources:

Source name: (null). Source ID: 2. Source Size: 1

Source name: Card. Source ID: 4. Source Size: 999

Default source name: Card. Default source ID: 4

Problem solved!! And to think those Apple "Genius'" said I'd have to do a fresh install of the iOS... here's to you boys, a bit of diligence and some inside help can go a long way!

Thanks to Wim for hanging in there with me through all my emails, I do appreciate it.

His apps:

Cleanup: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cleanup-remove-multiple-contacts/id376235560?mt=8

Mail Many: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mail-many/id378068743?mt=8

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Answer 4

Mar 29, 2012 4:40 PM in response to azz3879

This worked beautifully, except there is one minor issue.

That issue is outlined here, it's more of me just wanted to keep a simpler interface:

http://forums.macrumors.com/wap/GetThread.php?t=1344226&f=154&bat=

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Answer 5

Jun 10, 2012 5:23 PM in response to azz3879

I have been looking for answer to this problem for months. Thanks! It worked for me. Took a little while after establishing the exchange account for the "Default Contact List" to show up, but it did.

Does anyone know if I can now delete the Exchange account and the phone will retain iCloud as the default contact list, or if I will lose the ability to select a default contact list?

Thanks again.

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Answer 6

Jun 16, 2012 8:03 PM in response to timothyfrompanama city

Here is the answer to my own question: Yes, you can subsequently delete the Exchange account and the iPhone will retain iCloud as your default contact list...allowing you to add contacts from Phone app "recents" and contacts received from a text.

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Answer 7

Jan 20, 2013 5:59 PM in response to azz3879

It's now 2013, I'm running iOS 6.01, and this problem still exists!

I was able to solve the extraneous linked cards problem by following the suggestions here. I turned off iCloud, leaving me with just the locally stored contacts, then deleted them one-by-one after adding any missing ones manually to iCloud. All fine.

But still, any new contacts added from Phone or Messages get saved to this "Unknown" area and not to iCloud despite the little gear turning and it sending it somewhere.

I even added a second contacts source temporarily so the "Default Account" would show up and I made sure it's set to iCloud. But that still didn't solve the problem. Most new contacts still get added to this local store, not to iCloud!

I am so frustrated, I would throw this thing against the wall if it hadn't cost me 900 bucks.

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Answer 8

Aug 2, 2013 3:15 PM in response to azz3879

I'm still needing help regarding this issue as well. I'm unable to view my newly saved contacts in the address book, but if I go to a new text message and type the name, the persons name shows up and is selectable that way and that way only. I've restored my phone, reset the settings and nothing has helped. Also, the default button is unavailable to me.

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