When I create a new contact on iPhone (iOS 9), how does it determine which address book to add the contact to? I have several address books on my phone, including Exchange and iCloud. I don't see any option to pick an address book, like there is for adding a calendar appointment.
++Eric
iPhone 6s, iOS 9.1
Settings>Mail, Contacts, Calendar>Contacts>Default Account
Settings>Mail, Contacts, Calendar>Contacts>Default Account
Thanks!
It seems we can only choose the account in the Contacts app settings for all contacts, not choose an address book for each contact when we create them. The Calendar app allows us to chose the calendar for each appointment and even to change the calendar for appointments already made, but I can't find a way to do this in Contacts.
ericf2000 wrote:
Thanks!
It seems we can only choose the account in the Contacts app settings for all contacts, not choose an address book for each contact when we create them. The Calendar app allows us to chose the calendar for each appointment and even to change the calendar for appointments already made, but I can't find a way to do this in Contacts.
You can only chose a default. Honestly, you're probably better off just choosing one account and sticking to it. It will prevent a lot of confusion in the long run.
The built-in Contacts app does not let you choose a "group" for contacts, however, you can assign contacts to groups in the Address Book app that you sync to on your Mac or Windows computer or Google Contacts if you use that. And there are also 3rd party apps that let you manipulate contacts and groups. Two such are "Groups" and "Speed Names".
Thanks.
I was hoping to start keeping my work contacts in my work Exchange address book and my personal contacts in my iCloud address book, but it seems they don't make this easy. I have been using both for many years, and there is partial but not complete duplication. I remember that I had some synchronization program for a while on my Mac. I did find the "link contacts" option in the Contacts app to at least link the iCloud and Exchange contacts for the same person, so I don't see two entries for each on my phone.
Thanks for the suggestions. I am more-or-less stuck with using the Exchange address book for my work contacts due to the Outlook integration, but I was hoping to separate my personal contacts into my iCloud address book. Maybe one of the apps you mention will help with that.
New contacts are added to the contacts account chosen as Default. This article explains how to add new contacts to a non-default account. Basically, before adding the new contact, you need to go to the Groups page and hide all accounts except the one you want to add the new contact to.
How does iPhone contacts choose address book?
