Changes to Contacts Behavior

[Massie]

This is my first real bug with iOS 5 (at least I think it's a bug).

Since updating to iOS 5, any contact I had originally entered on my phone (while on 4.3.3) has disappeared, despite the fact that I keep them syncing with my Google account. They were in the Contacts app for a brief moment, but once I clicked the Groups tab they were taken away as soon I returned to the full Contacts app (and they were also removed from my Google account).

Interestingly, I can still find them by searching in Spotlight, but the only way I've been able to get them to reappear in the Contacts app is by emailing myself the .vcf and creating a new contact from that. What concerns me the most is that under Mail, Contacts, Calendar in the Settings app, we're no longer offered an option for the default contacts account. It used to be that you could choose "On My iPhone" or your own account--I had mine set to my Exchange account so anything I added to my phone would automatically sync to my Google account. Now I'm not sure where things are being saved.

A few notes: I don't use iCloud or sync contacts through iTunes. I've always used Google and have never had a problem, which leads me to think this is an iOS issue. Obviously they're available somewhere on my phone since I can find them via Spotlight, but where? Clicking the "Import SIM Contacts" doesn't do anything--it flashes for a second but nothing is added to the Contacts app.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? I'm a bit worried that new contacts added to my phone will mysteriously disappear somewhere down the line.

 

[noaim]

This is my first real bug with iOS 5 (at least I think it's a bug).

Since updating to iOS 5, any contact I had originally entered on my phone (while on 4.3.3) has disappeared, despite the fact that I keep them syncing with my Google account. They were in the Contacts app for a brief moment, but once I clicked the Groups tab they were taken away as soon I returned to the full Contacts app (and they were also removed from my Google account).

Interestingly, I can still find them by searching in Spotlight, but the only way I've been able to get them to reappear in the Contacts app is by emailing myself the .vcf and creating a new contact from that. What concerns me the most is that under Mail, Contacts, Calendar in the Settings app, we're no longer offered an option for the default contacts account. It used to be that you could choose "On My iPhone" or your own account--I had mine set to my Exchange account so anything I added to my phone would automatically sync to my Google account. Now I'm not sure where things are being saved.

A few notes: I don't use iCloud or sync contacts through iTunes. I've always used Google and have never had a problem, which leads me to think this is an iOS issue. Obviously they're available somewhere on my phone since I can find them via Spotlight, but where? Clicking the "Import SIM Contacts" doesn't do anything--it flashes for a second but nothing is added to the Contacts app.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? I'm a bit worried that new contacts added to my phone will mysteriously disappear somewhere down the line.

As a fair warning.. syncing contacts wirelessly has always had its problems on most phones.. its not always perfect sometimes contacts are deleted sometimes there duplicated thats why I choose not to sync over the air.. the only time I see it working most the time perfect is on a android phone with google....

 

[Peligro911]

If u log into gmail are they there ? I know gmail has a restore option for contacts maybe do that. But remove the gmail account from your phone first then once your done re add and see I they all come back ... When I first resorted on ios5 my gmail only showed 50 contacts on the phone untill I deleted the account and re added it and then try all came back


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[phoon61]

that happened to me before.
once you setup your gmail go into email settings, slide the toggle for contacts to off. it will ask to delete, say yes, then toggle back to on. this should bring them all back.

 

[Massie]

If u log into gmail are they there ? I know gmail has a restore option for contacts maybe do that. But remove the gmail account from your phone first then once your done re add and see I they all come back ... When I first resorted on ios5 my gmail only showed 50 contacts on the phone untill I deleted the account and re added it and then try all came back

I tried the restore, but no go, perhaps because they were only synced to gmail, and not created in gmail. Here's the timeline:

-iOS 4.3.3 all is well. My gmail account includes all contacts added online or by phone.
-I update to 5.0
-When I open my Contacts, all the contacts I added on my phone while on 4.3.3 are missing, but they are still available via Spotlight. So they are on the phone still but are no longer synced with my Google account. I can add them back to contacts by sending myself the contact card and they immediately show up in my online gmail.

The fact that they are still on my phone leads me to suspect that the problem lies in a change Apple made to the options under Settings>Mail, Contact, Calendars. It used to be that you could specify a default account so that anything you added on the phone matched that account (I used my gmail account). That option no longer exists in iOS 5, and my suspicion is that the contacts I entered using that setup were removed once I updated, and are now stored locally on the phone. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a list of just those contacts--before iOS 5 there was a contacts group called On My iPhone which showed you your contacts that weren't synced with another service. (Incidentally, any new contact I add to the phone now does show up in my gmail account; the problem only effects pre-iOS 5 entries.)

Luckily, I only had a few contacts that fell into this trap; it's not the end of the world for me to have to add them back manually. But I thought I'd bring it up because someone out there might open their Contacts app and discover that hundreds of contacts they entered on their phone are now missing. I don't have a solution but thought someone else may have had the same problem.

 

[noaim]

I tried the restore, but no go, perhaps because they were only synced to gmail, and not created in gmail. Here's the timeline:

-iOS 4.3.3 all is well. My gmail account includes all contacts added online or by phone.
-I update to 5.0
-When I open my Contacts, all the contacts I added on my phone while on 4.3.3 are missing, but they are still available via Spotlight. So they are on the phone still but are no longer synced with my Google account. I can add them back to contacts by sending myself the contact card and they immediately show up in my online gmail.

The fact that they are still on my phone leads me to suspect that the problem lies in a change Apple made to the options under Settings>Mail, Contact, Calendars. It used to be that you could specify a default account so that anything you added on the phone matched that account (I used my gmail account). That option no longer exists in iOS 5, and my suspicion is that the contacts I entered using that setup were removed once I updated, and are now stored locally on the phone. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a list of just those contacts--before iOS 5 there was a contacts group called On My iPhone which showed you your contacts that weren't synced with another service. (Incidentally, any new contact I add to the phone now does show up in my gmail account; the problem only effects pre-iOS 5 entries.)

Luckily, I only had a few contacts that fell into this trap; it's not the end of the world for me to have to add them back manually. But I thought I'd bring it up because someone out there might open their Contacts app and discover that hundreds of contacts they entered on their phone are now missing. I don't have a solution but thought someone else may have had the same problem.

just so you know just because they show up in spotlight does not mean there on the phone.. if you delete a text message you can still find it in spotlight spotlight can find deleted data we have been complaining about that for a while... if there not in your contacts on the phone there not really on the phone

 

[Peligro911]

That's strange I had the same setup and only the issue I stated and I always added contacts via the phone not computer


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[Massie]

just so you know just because they show up in spotlight does not mean there on the phone.. if you delete a text message you can still find it in spotlight spotlight can find deleted data we have been complaining about that for a while... if there not in your contacts on the phone there not really on the phone

Right, sorry if I wasn't clear...they've definitely been deleted from the Contacts section, but are obviously somewhere related to Trash or deleted files.

 

[noaim]

Right, sorry if I wasn't clear...they've definitely been deleted from the Contacts section, but are obviously somewhere related to Trash or deleted files.

yes that makes sense.. however im really sorry this happened to you. To me my contacts are the most important thing on the phone as far as data go's so whenever you have trouble with it it sucks

 

[Massie]

Success! I used the "Text Message Fix" described here and all my lost contacts magically returned...hopefully they'll stick around this time.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

 

[big9erfan]

This happened on my wifes phone too. I was able to search for them but they didn't show up in the contacts app. I searche for one, tapped the <Contacts in the top left, tr back to the full screen of contacts. I closed that app, opens yr phone app. The phone app crashed. I reopened it and all the contacts were there.