MM Answers: how to use groups in my contacts?

Continuing the MM Answers! 😊

The question of the day:

How do I use groups in my contacts?

Information

We live in the information age and your contact list is a vital part of it all; the more items are present in it, the less time you spend looking for information that we don’t always value except when we need it most.

Contacts app cone

As a suggestion, add emails to all the contacts you have and, for your favorites, I also recommend adding home / work addresses, birthdays and photos. It may seem like a tiring and boring job, but something I guarantee is worth it.

Groups

You may not know, but the Contacts app (Contacts) has two interesting features called Groups and Smart Groups. Both are super-useful tools that can make our lives a lot easier.

In the first, the operation is very similar to that of a playlist (playlist) from iTunes. You choose your contact and drag him to the desired group. In the smart version, the whole process is automated, following the conditions defined by you.

 Group

As main utilities for your groups, we can mention sending emails or messages to multiple contacts at the same time.

iOS vs. Groups

A major flaw in iOS is the inability to add contacts to groups or to create them. Necessarily, to do this process, you need your Mac or access your account via the web (on iCloud, for example).

Groups on iCloud

This flaw has existed since the origin of iOS and, even in the beta version of iOS 10, the problem persists. 😡

Groups vs. Smart Groups

Check it out below as a group on your Mac:

  1. Open the Contacts app, go to View Show Groups (1).
  2. Comes New Group Archive.
  3. Define a name for the group (for example: “Friends”).
  4. Drag the desired contacts to your new group.

Now, how to create a smart group:

  1. Open the Contacts app, go to View Show Groups (1).
  2. Comes New Smart Group Archive.
  3. Define a name for the group and its criteria, something very similar to what we talked about when creating the rules of the Mail app.

Conditions for a smart group

  1. Contacts will be added to the group automatically.

Main uses

As a suggestion, you can use smart groups for events / meetings, adding as a note the information from where you met such person and waiting for the app to bring them together. It is worth noting that smart groups are not synchronized with your iOS device, so if you want to have the contacts of these groups on your iPad or iPhone / iPod touch, you will need to copy them to another group (without being smart).

· · ·

If you looked for an answer on MM Frum and did not find it or if you simply have any suggestions for the MM Answers (we will select one at a time), just send an email to me (marcelo at our domain) or talk to me on Twitter (@marcelodemelo).

See you next time! 😬