SIM Card question!

[SRLMJ23]

How come Apple and or AT&T doesnt let us save our contacts to our SIM cards?? Back when I was with Nextel I could always save my contacts to the SIM and just switch different phones and everything was there.

What's up with this??

 

[JediMeister]

Because the contacts are usually synced with your computer to the Address Book application on a Mac or Outlook on a PC. Also if you have a MobileMe account and you get a new iPhone you can set up the account and have it sync over the air.

 

[Carlanga]

SIManager

If jb, download SIManager from Cydia (after you download it, open it, press read sim first, then write your contacts to sim card).

 

[trekkie604]

Also, most SIMs only save the name and number. The iPhone stores way more fields in its contacts than that.

 

[mstrze]

Because the contacts are usually synced with your computer to the Address Book application on a Mac or Outlook on a PC. Also if you have a MobileMe account and you get a new iPhone you can set up the account and have it sync over the air.

This doesn't make it a royal pain to START using an iPhone. I was dismayed to find I couldn't port over my contacts via SIM from my RAZR and had to re-enter them, one by one, into my iPhone. Sure, it's going to be easy enough now...going into the future, especially if I stay with the iPhone, but the first experience sure is daunting. Not a very Apple-like, user-friendly process. :/

 

[trekkie604]

This doesn't make it a royal pain to START using an iPhone. I was dismayed to find I couldn't port over my contacts via SIM from my RAZR and had to re-enter them, one by one, into my iPhone. Sure, it's going to be easy enough now...going into the future, especially if I stay with the iPhone, but the first experience sure is daunting. Not a very Apple-like, user-friendly process. :/

I synced my old RAZR with Moto Phone Tools and Outlook. Then with iTunes. Simple.

 

[dave420]

This doesn't make it a royal pain to START using an iPhone. I was dismayed to find I couldn't port over my contacts via SIM from my RAZR and had to re-enter them, one by one, into my iPhone. Sure, it's going to be easy enough now...going into the future, especially if I stay with the iPhone, but the first experience sure is daunting. Not a very Apple-like, user-friendly process. :/

Maybe you have been an iPhone user for a long time, but now there is an "Import SIM Contacts" option in settings that will import numbers from the sim card. Not sure which version added that though.

 

[mstrze]

Maybe you have been an iPhone user for a long time, but now there is an "Import SIM Contacts" option in settings that will import numbers from the sim card. Not sure which version added that though.

I've had it since the fall of 2008. The guy at the AT&T store didn't tell me about that...he said there was no way to import them...and this is frankly the first I have heard of it. :/

 

[SRLMJ23]

Well I have Microsoft Exchange email & MobileMe. I just find it weird that we cant save to a SIM. It sure would make some peoples lives better when they switch from other phones. I thought the whole purpose of a SIM Card was to have your information on it, including contacts.

 

[mstrze]

Well I have Microsoft Exchange email & MobileMe. I just find it weird that we cant save to a SIM. It sure would make some peoples lives better when they switch from other phones. I thought the whole purpose of a SIM Card was to have your information on it, including contacts.

The purpose of a SIM card is to be able to inform the phone's processor of your phone number and carrier information. The extra space is just gravy.

 

[dave420]

I've had it since the fall of 2008. The guy at the AT&T store didn't tell me about that...he said there was no way to import them...and this is frankly the first I have heard of it. :/

According to Wikipedia this feature has been out since iOS 2.0 which came with the 3G. Maybe the employee was unaware at the time since it was a new feature.

 

[SRLMJ23]

I'm just trying to figure out why they have basically "locked" our SIM Cards and not let us put contacts/calendar/notes etc....on it. It's done on all Nextel and some Sprint phones that have SIM Cards, and Verizon has some phones that have SIM Cards where you can export your info to the SIM.

 

[dave420]

I'm just trying to figure out why they have basically "locked" our SIM Cards and not let us put contacts/calendar/notes etc....on it. It's done on all Nextel and some Sprint phones that have SIM Cards, and Verizon has some phones that have SIM Cards where you can export your info to the SIM.

There are Verizon phones with SIM cards? Is there any standard for how calendars and notes should be stored on a SIM card? What other phones should it work with? It is easy to sync that data between iPhones already.
Also it has been mentioned that the iPhone stores much more data about each contact than is available on a SIM card, so you could run into problems. I can't see why you would need to put your SIM in another phone that frequently anyway, though I guess you like to have that option. Just add your contacts to the SIM card from the other phone and they will stay there.

 

[SRLMJ23]

Like I said, I have MS Exchange and MobileMe, so I'm not worried about losing my contacts/calendar because it's all in the cloud. I just think it would help some people coming from "Dumb" phones to the iPhone, or any other smartphone.