Contacts app is a nightmare on Tahoe.

[JoeSilver]

Has anyone else noticed the ‘First’ and ‘Last’ names do not display if ‘Company’ is toggled?

Example:
First: John
Last: Smith
Company: Smith’s Plumbers

Instead (with Company toggled) you see “Smith’s Plumbing” where you would expect to see “John Smith”. So, you see “Smith’s Plumbing” twice on the contact!
However, searches for First and Last name still work though.

If you un-toggle ‘Company’ you will see both First and Last name and Company when you exit Edit mode.

This as very poor software testing from Apple.

I hope I am not misunderstanding what you are saying, in which case what I'm saying will be obvious.

In the edit form there is a text field "Company" where the contact's company must go.
And there is a checkbox "Company" which I believe is used to specify that the contact is not a person but a company.
You can save the contact as a person and add their company's name, which will appear (in small text) just above the person's First and Last name (+Middle and Mr/Ms/etc if specified).
But if you toggle the checkbox company, you are implying that your contact is a company, so First and Last name shouldn't really be inserted.

 

[MareLuce]

In the edit form there is a text field "Company" where the contact's company must go.
And there is a checkbox "Company" which I believe is used to specify that the contact is not a person but a company.
You can save the contact as a person and add their company's name, which will appear (in small text) just above the person's First and Last name (+Middle and Mr/Ms/etc if specified).
But if you toggle the checkbox company, you are implying that your contact is a company, so First and Last name shouldn't really be inserted.

💯. I use that Company field also for
Ex: HVAC Filter change log
Ex: Water Softener salt refill log
Ex: Dad HBA1C diary
And add the dates or numbers in the Notes section , LIFO-style ( last in first out - most recent at the top )

anyone else do this?

 

[JoeSilver]

💯. I use that Company field also for
Ex: HVAC Filter change log
Ex: Water Softener salt refill log
Ex: Dad HBA1C diary
And add the dates or numbers in the Notes section , LIFO-style ( last in first out - most recent at the top )

anyone else do this?

I’m not sure I’m following you. Do you use Contacts for saving people’s numbers, addresses etc or for something completely different as log diary, reminders etc. for which there are dedicated apps?

For me the company entry is just for… well, associating the person to the company.

 

[MareLuce]

Do you use Contacts for saving people’s numbers, addresses etc or for something completely differently as log diary, reminders etc.

Both.

It's the fastest (fewest taps) way to answer questions like,
- When did I last refill the water softener?
- When I did I last take my backup drive to the safe deposit box?
etc..

for which there are dedicated apps?

What app would be better than Contacts for keeping random bits of data like that?

 

[BigBlur]

What app would be better than Contacts for keeping random bits of data like that?

Reminders, Notes, or Calendar.

 

[adrianlondon]

What app would be better than Contacts for keeping random bits of data like that?

Be careful storing "random bits of data" in the contacts app. If you use a messaging app such as WhatsApp or Facebook, they usually read your entire contacts list so will end up also knowing your random stuff.

 

[ignatius345]

Contacts under Tahoe tries to display a background image in the contact detail area. This leads to bad legibility and it's wasting a lot of display space.

Yes, this. It's really distracting and cluttered on iOS and macOS. I honestly can't stand looking at it.

Yes, I tried BusyContact and Cardhop. They are paid software and present a lot of stuff that I just don't need. I'd gladly pay for any app to give me back the old Contacts interface.

Weird workaround, but if you go to icloud.com/contacts (assuming your Contacts are all synced via iCloud) then you can actually get a very plain interface for Contacts within the web browser. Changes you make there will sync to your Mac.

In fact, from there, you can use Safari's "save to dock" feature to make a standalone window for the web version of Contacts. It's not bad!

(Sorry, had to redact a bunch of stuff here to not dox myself and my friends, but you get the idea)

 

[JoeSilver]

Reminders, Notes, or Calendar.

Yes. Note that... Notes is more than simple text, you can apply #tags to them, search within dates (say: Before September or more precisely), search for specific text etc. They can be synced on iCloud so that you can edit and access them from the iPhone as well.

Also, I haven't used it yet, I would check Journal for diary entries. It has similar features.

Reminders is very handy for setting... reminders with notes, tags, level of priority, recurring reminders etc.

All these apps are iCloud-aware and can be seamlessly used between Mac and iPhone.

 

[diego.caraballo]

Be careful storing "random bits of data" in the contacts app. If you use a messaging app such as WhatsApp or Facebook, they usually read your entire contacts list so will end up also knowing your random stuff.

Interesting. Never think of it.
I hope that Apple Contacts permissions excludes the "notes" field...

 

[MareLuce]

Be careful storing "random bits of data" in the contacts app. If you use a messaging app such as WhatsApp or Facebook, they usually read your entire contacts list so will end up also knowing your random stuff.

Completely agree. I have never allowed any other app to access my Contacts. I can't imagine doing that. It would be giving up so much privacy, even if my contacts just contained normal contact info.

(I also don't sync contacts with Apple iCloud.)

 

[ignatius345]

Interesting. Never think of it.
I hope that Apple Contacts permissions excludes the "notes" field...

I believe it now does? I remember reading something about it a while ago. It was a long overdue change because people do tend to put personal notes in there as it's very convenient -- and they should be able to without that part being shared.

I personally very very rarely let any app ingest my contacts because as I see it I'm giving away my friends' and family's information without their consent.

 

[MareLuce]

Reminders, Notes, or Calendar.

I tried using Notes. It takes more time to search and update than Contacts.
Plus, with contacts, I can add relevant phone # and URL in a structured way. So much faster when needing to make a quick related phone call or look up related info on a support page.

Trying to use Reminders and Calendar would be awful for that purpose.

 

[diego.caraballo]

I believe it now does? I remember reading something about it a while ago. It was a long overdue change because people do tend to put personal notes in there as it's very convenient -- and they should be able to without that part being shared.

I personally very very rarely let any app ingest my contacts because as I see it I'm giving away my friends' and family's information without their consent.

The setting under Privacy & Security is vague:

"Contact info may include phone numbers, email, home addresses, and more."

 

[JoeSilver]

I tried using Notes. It takes more time to search and update than Contacts.
Plus, with contacts, I can add relevant phone # and URL in a structured way. So much faster when needing to make a quick related phone call or look up related info on a support page.

Trying to use Reminders and Calendar would be awful for that purpose.

Well, to each their own (but I agree that Reminders and Calendar are for things to do, obviously, not for saving notes about the past)

To me, Contacts is just for saving numbers, emails and birthdays (plus other personal info like addresses or companies).

The kind of things that you mentioned belong more to a diary, IMHO, than a Contacts book.

 

[MareLuce]

The kind of things that you mentioned belong more to a diary, IMHO, than a Contacts book.

You are 100% logically correct. But in a moment of need, I can just find all the random scraps of data easier if when stored in a related contact.

Another example of one I used recently while having a random conversation with someone at a local cafe
"Property Tax diary" to list what I've paid in property taxes each year since I added that contact, plus link to county prop tax page.

The downside is I am soooo dependent on this 1 app!

 

[JoeSilver]

I see. I think for that purpose it would be useful if Notes could link a contact or tag it. From a quick look I'd say no, it's not possible.
Otherwise Notes can link any URL and other notes as well, so they are more flexible in creating these kind of connections.