Use Fake Contacts to Improve Dictation Accuracy
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How to Display Contacts with Last Names First
Most people prefer Apple’s default of sorting contacts by last name, so “Andy Anderson” appears near the start of the list and “Liliana Velasco” toward the end. But some would also prefer to display contacts with their last name first, such as “Anderson, Andy,” and “Velasco, Liliana.” That’s not the default, but if it’s what you want, here’s how to accomplish it. On the iPhone and iPad, go to Settings > Apps > Contacts > Display Order and select Last, First. On the Mac, open Contacts > Settings > General and from the Show First Name controls, select Following Last Name.
(Featured image by Adam Engst)
Social Media: Want to display your contacts with the last name shown first? Here’s how to configure your iPhone, iPad, and Mac to display “Anderson, Andy” instead of “Andy Anderson.”
Keep Your Contacts Current by Adding Siri-Suggested Content
Remembering to update your contacts with new email addresses, phone numbers, and postal addresses can be hard. But if you’ve received that information in Mail or Messages, Siri’s data detection capabilities can help. Open Contacts on the Mac and press the Down arrow to cycle through your contacts. When you see one with information in light gray and a parenthetical like (Siri Found in Mail), click the ⓘ button to the right ➊ to see some context in the source message. If the information is correct, click Add to Contact ➋ to keep it.
(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/Brett_Hondow)
Social Media: Want an easy way to add email addresses, phone numbers, and postal addresses to Contacts? If you’ve received that information in Mail or Messages, Siri can help.
How to Share a Contact Card without Sharing Everything in iOS 16
Apple makes it easy to share contact cards on the iPhone or iPad—just scroll down in a contact and tap Share Contact. But what if you don’t want to share every piece of data on that card? To avoid oversharing in iOS 16 or iPadOS 16, tap Filter Fields at the top of the Share sheet and deselect the private items. If the card has a lot of data and you want to share only a few items, tap Deselect All Fields at the bottom of the sheet and select only what you want to share. Unfortunately, your selections aren’t remembered if you share the same card again later, so be sure to reset your selections each time you share.
(Featured image by iStock.com/diane39)
AutoFill in Safari Not Working? Set “My Card” in Contacts
We heard from a client that AutoFill in Safari suddenly stopped entering her name and address in Web forms when she chose Edit > AutoFill Form or pressed Command-Shift-A, forcing her to enter her contact information manually, like an animal. (And yes, the “Using information from my contacts” checkbox was selected in Safari’s AutoFill preferences.) Although we have no idea what caused the problem, the solution turned out to be simple. She went into Contacts, found her personal contact card, and chose Card > Make This My Card. Give this a try if you’re having trouble with AutoFill or haven’t yet started using it in Safari.
(Featured image by Adam Engst)
Delete Contacts More Easily in iOS 16 and iPadOS 16
Deleting contacts on the iPhone and iPad used to be a pain, especially if you wanted to trash multiple contacts. You had to open the contact, tap Edit, scroll to the bottom, and tap Delete Contact. Although you still can’t swipe left on a contact in a list, as you do when deleting in Mail and Messages, iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 provide a simpler method. Touch and hold a contact in the Phone or Contacts lists, and then tap Delete Contact at the bottom.
(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/anyaberkut)
Want to Use Your Friends’ Nicknames in iOS? Here’s How
If you have a friend whom you refer to only by his nickname, it can be annoying to feel like you should use his proper first name when adding him to Contacts. Worse, then he shows up in Messages with a name you don’t recognize as easily. Here’s how to convince iOS to use his nickname instead. Open his card in Contacts, tap Edit, scroll to the bottom, tap Add Field, and tap Nickname. That puts a Nickname field at the top, under his proper name, for you to fill in. To get iOS to use it, go to Settings > Contacts > Short Name and enable Prefer Nicknames. From then on, you can enter your friend’s nickname instead of his proper name in apps like Messages and Mail, and iOS will also display it instead of his name everywhere.
(Featured image by Yuri Manei from Pexels)
Teach Siri How to Pronounce Names Properly
Siri is supposed to be a competent voice assistant, but sometimes Siri can’t even pronounce your own name correctly! Luckily, it’s easy to fix Siri’s pronunciation for any name. Just say to Siri, “Learn how to pronounce Jill Kresock.” (Siri defaults to “krehsock” rather than the correct “kreesock” in this case.) Siri first asks you to say the person’s first name and then presents a list of options for the best pronunciation. Tap the play button next to each option to hear it, and tap Select for the one you like best. If none are good, tap Tell Siri Again and say the name again, perhaps changing your enunciation slightly. Once you’ve set up the first name, Siri will ask you to say the person’s last name, after which you can pick the best pronunciation for the last name.
