How can I view my iCloud contacts from someone else's iPhone? I don't want to change their phone settings.

Yesterday I ran into a problem that was eye opening to say the least. I could not not access my contacts in order to find a friend's phone number. No one remembers phone numbers any more. God knows I don't.

I was on a jetski and it broke down. I was stranded at a dock miles away. I needed to contact my friend to tell him (a) I'm ok, (b) where I was, (c) to bring a tow. Of course I had no phone on me because it would have gotten soaked.

People were kind enough on the dock to let me use their smart phones to attempt to retreive the phone number and call for help. But I quickly discovered that it is impossible.

On an iPhone, I tried to use their Safari browser to go to www.icloud.com. When you do that, it simply redirects you to the apps. But it isn't my phone, and their apps are logged in to the owner's accounts. I wasn't about to update the settings in a stranger's phone.

One guy let me try his iPad with Cellular. Same problem as the iphones. It would not let me use www.icloud.com. It insisted that I use the native iOS apps.

On an Android, www.icloud.com would simply refuse to work. It would say it was not supported.

The question I have is: How can I view my contacts from someone else's smart phone in an emergency situation?

Second question: Why can't I use www.icloud.com on a smart phone's web browser like I can on regular computer?

I got lucky. I happened to know my mom's home number. Many hours later she was home and I was able to use a phone to call her. She brought up www.icloud.com on her home computer, logged on as me, and read me the phone number I was seeking. But what are the chances of being able to call a trusted person who has access to a computer to do this for you?