address book

How to use Facebook photos for Android contacts

Depending on which version of Android you're running, there might be a Bugdroid or gender-neutral silhouette that appears for each contact that is missing a custom photo. While seeing these instead of a contact's photo isn't too big of a deal, it's always nice to see the faces of your family and friends that are calling you. This is especially useful if you're at a location where the volume of your device needs to be turned off and you can see who is calling with just a quick glance.

While this method is a bit … Read more

Tips for deduping Android contacts

The contacts app on your phone is the most boring, neglected app ever created. I don't care how much you love your phone -- the only reason you're reading a blog post about contacts right now is because things have gotten out of hand.

Are there people listed in your phone three or four times? Do you have 500 contacts, but only 10 of them have phone numbers? Well, then, it's time to take out the garbage.

The video above has all of my best advice, but I'm going to use this blog post to distill … Read more

Apple's iOS 6 to add privacy controls for user contacts

Apple will offer users a way to manage which applications have permission to access their contact information as part of a new privacy control panel that's coming in iOS 6.

The feature comes in tandem with a new privacy pop-up that asks whether users want to give a particular application access to contacts, as pointed out by MacRumors today.

Apple said it would add such a feature as part of a "future software release," back in February, though the company did not specify when exactly that would be.

At the company's annual developer conference earlier this … Read more

Google Voice update helps users screen nameless callers

Google announced today that it's aiming to help users control their settings to more easily avoid answering those pesky anonymous callers on Google Voice. Be it an unknown, restricted, or blocked number, the Web giant says users can now fit those callers into one specified group.

"Many users have asked us for controls aimed at people who are NOT in their address book," Google software engineer Tom Ford wrote in a blog post. "So today, we're adding two groups of callers for Google Voice users."

Besides grouping anonymous callers into one group so users … Read more

CallApp adds informative contact management to Android

Remembering all the details about a contact can be difficult if you're speaking with many people across many companies. To combat this issue, CallApp for Android will provide a wall of information about each person you're contacting.

You might be wondering: why do I need another app when I can add notes to contact profiles on my phone? Well, that little text box is definitely handy, but it simply doesn't compete with CallApp's features.

CallApp will let you see publicly available social media and other related information for individuals and businesses. For individuals this is helpful … Read more

Easily share your contact info using ContactMonkey

If you're looking for an easy way to share your contact card, give ContactMonkey a try. By listing your information on ContactMonkey, you'll be provided with a Web page where your contact info will be listed.

Visitors of your page are then able to view your info, as well as given the option to download your contact card by clicking on one of the 19 different devices or programs supported by ContactMonkey. By supporting so many different contact card formats, ContactMonkey ensures your information is available to anyone, even if they're viewing your info on … Read more

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week people wrote in with questions about the options for performing a clean install of OS X Lion, restoring an iTunes library after formatting and reinstalling the OS, and whether virtual machines will be affected after reinstalling OS X. In addition, some people have wondered about Intuit getting other older PowerPC-based software packages running in Lion, and whether Address Book contacts can be shared among local user accounts. We welcome alternative approaches and views from readers, so if you have any suggestions, then post … Read more

How to gather contact information with Postable

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Managing a large address book can be tedious, but it doesn't have to be. Usually when you send out requests for contact information you'll have to scour the e-mail you get back for all the pieces of info you're currently missing. With Postable, you can have contacts edit their own information by sharing a link with them, and then export all of the collected information right to your own address book. Here's how to get started:

First you'll need to head to Postable.com and sign up for an account. Hopefully OAuth support … Read more

The semi-automatic way to manage multiple contact lists

Few business resources are as valuable as your list of contacts. It's no wonder companies such as Twitter and iPad app vendor Path are trying to get their hands on their customers' contacts--with or without their express permission.

Contacts are like rabbits: they tend to multiply whenever they get together.

In the past year my Gmail contact list has grown by 50 percent, not to mention the many updates and changes to existing entries. Contact-sync programs promise to keep the information in multiple address books up-to-date, but the programs I've tried create so many duplicate records they'… Read more