Lucas1948
Level 1 (12 points)
Windows Software

Q: How did I get No Name entries in iPhone contacts?

Today I was trying to share a contact from my iPhone to my wife's. (We have the exact same model phones—bought them the same day. We both use iCloud for contacts.) I tried AirDrop—the contact did pop on my wife's screen; I tapped "Accept," but the contact did not appear in her contacts. So I tried a second time—same results.

 

Then I looked through her contacts and found something really odd. Below the last alphabetical listing, I saw "#" and a list of perhaps two dozen identical entries, all labeled No Name. I could see only one way to get rid of these bogus contacts: Open each one, tap Edit, and delete the contact. That's no fun, so I decided to visit her profile on my MacBook Pro.

 

To my surprise, I found exactly zero bogus entries in her Contacts on the MBP. Now I have a few questions—

  1. How did these No Name contacts get onto her phone?
  2. How can I get rid of them without editing each one?
  3. Why don't they show up in my wife's Contacts app on the MBP?

iPhone 5c, iOS 10.0.2, 16GB

Posted on Oct 10, 2016 5:14 PM

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Lucas1948

Q: How did I get No Name entries in iPhone contacts?

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  • by Lucas1948,

    Lucas1948 Lucas1948 Oct 11, 2016 7:59 PM in response to Lucas1948
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Windows Software
    Oct 11, 2016 7:59 PM in response to Lucas1948

    Here's some more information. Today I discovered that the No Name entries display only if Contacts displays a category under Groups called PersonMetadata. If I tell Contacts not to display that group, the mystery contacts don't appear.

     

    Well, that raises another question. What is (or are) PersonMetadata? I tried to research this topic, and it seems it has something to do with the new iOS 10 version of Photos. Can someone please explain what's going on!

     

    Another mystery: If PersonMetadata is related to Photos, and if my wife and I use identical phones—both updated to the latest version of iOS—why does her phone have PersonMetadata as a Contacts group, but mine does not?