Contacts vs Phone

With Contacts on iOS, iPadOS and macOS, you can store and manage your and other’s contact information, birthdays, Contact Posters and more. Easily connect with your contacts with Mail, Messages, Phone, or FaceTime. Or instantly share your Contact Poster and your number or email address with someone new through NameDrop on iPhone and Apple Watch. Manage Your Contacts Easily add people to your contacts, and sync their contact information across all your devices with iCloud, Microsoft Exchange, Google, and other syncing services. If your contacts choose to, you can automatically get updates to their Contact Poster through Messages, Phone and FaceTime as well. Get Connected Quickly When you need a contact’s information, you can search to find who you’re looking for. You can then quickly message, call, FaceTime, email or even Apple Pay them. If you add their social profile to their contact card, you can jump to it with a tap. And if you add their birthday, you’ll also see it in Calendar so you never miss it. Store Your Personal Information Create a My Card in Contacts to store your own contact information including your phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, and more. You can then use the information in your My Card to use Autofill to instantly complete forms online or in apps across iOS, iPadOS and macOS. Customize Your Contact Poster Create a customized poster to represent yourself when you connect with others using Messages, Phone and FaceTime. Choose from various treatments for photos, Memoji and your name, and choose to automatically share it with your contacts or be asked every time before you share. Share your Contact with NameDrop Exchange contact information with someone new by simply bringing your iPhone near their iPhone or Apple Watch. Your name and Contact Poster are automatically included every time, and you can select the phone number or email address you want to share from your My Card along with it. Use Contacts on Apple Watch Select people from your contacts to use as a complication on your watch face for easy access, and quickly connect with them through Messages, Phone or Mail right from your wrist. You can also create new contacts and customize existing contacts, or exchange contact information with someone new using NameDrop with their iPhone or Apple Watch.

Make and receive calls with the Phone app. • Phone calls, FaceTime audio calls and FaceTime video calls all in one place. • Choose a new unified layout that brings together your Favorites, Recents, and Voicemails • Favorites offers one-tap shortcuts for calls and messages to your most important contacts. • Recents displays recent conversations and missed calls. Search for previous calls, transcribed voicemails, and contacts using a broad range of search criteria. • Voicemail Summaries powered by Apple Intelligence appear in-line with missed calls and help surface the most important information. • Keypad search lets you quickly find and call existing contacts by typing in their name or number with the alphanumeric keypad. • Contact Posters let you customize exactly how you appear when you give someone a call. Choose from various treatments for photos, Memoji and your name. • Record live calls or FaceTime audio calls from the Phone app and review the transcripts in the Notes app. When you start a recording, the Phone app automatically announces that the call is being recorded. • Visual Voicemail offers a written transcript of your voicemails. Save Visual Voicemail messages as notes, voice memos, or share them using Messages, Mail or AirDrop.* • Live Voicemail lets you see a real-time transcription as someone is leaving you a message, and you can pick up the call if it’s something you want to address in the moment. • Automatic Mic Mode picks the right Mic Mode for you. Voice Isolation blocks out ambient noise and spotlights your voice. Wide Spectrum will leave ambient noises unfiltered, allowing your voice and all the sounds around you to be heard. • Text responses make it easy to send a response in a single tap when you can’t pick up a call. Use suggested replies, or create your own custom text responses. • Remind Me Later helps you remember to return calls that you can’t pick up in the moment. • Hold Assist lets the Phone app wait on hold for you and alerts you once a live agent is available. • Call Screening lets you screen incoming calls from unknown numbers. Your phone will pick up the call for you and ask for a name and reason for the call before the phone even rings. • Call Context uses Apple Intelligence to help surface relevant information — like a confirmation code — when you call a business. • Silence Unknown Callers gives you the option to automatically send unknown numbers to voicemail. Your phone will only ring for people in your contacts, recent outgoing calls, and Siri Suggestions. • Blocked Contacts allows you to identify unwanted callers and blocks phone and FaceTime calls from those numbers. • A range of ringtones and vibrations allow you to choose distinct alerts for certain people. • Wi-Fi Calling lets you make or receive a phone call on a Wi-Fi connection, so you can stay connected in areas with little or no cellular coverage.* • Dial Assist automatically determines the correct international or local prefix when dialing. • Call Waiting allows someone to call you while you’re already on another call.* • Call Forwarding relays calls made to your number to another number that you specify.* Apple Watch Features: • Make and answer phone calls right from your wrist. • When you hear or feel the call, send the call to voicemail, answer using your iPhone or send a message. • While you’re on a call, adjust the call volume, use the keypad or even switch the call to your iPhone. • Listen to voicemails. • Ask Siri to call someone in your contacts. *Requires carrier support