Address book oddities with iPhone 4S, Lion & MacBook?

Maybe this is an iPhone issue, but: Have any of you been having problems with losing addresses out of Address book both on the latest versions of Lion, MacBooks and iPhones? I've been very successfully using an iPhone 3 and earlier versions of the OS, but when I upgraded to both a new 4S and MacBook i7, I've been plagued with address book entries showing up fine on the Macbook Pro but not on the iPhone after a sync. I'm NOT using iCloud yet, but this has become frequent and frustrating. I've even tried overwriting during Sync my entire iPhone address book with the one from my laptop, but I still can't get some of my contacts to show up on the iPhone. For example, all my family members with the same name as I am, do not show up on the phone after syncing with the laptop, where I can see them fine. It's very frustrating. After the latest sync, all my 'favorites' on the iPhone have vanished.
I see that others have had this problem in the past with MobileMe. But I'm not using either that or iCloud. iCloud is only being used for 'Find my iPhone". Nothing else.
Any suggestions? Or do you need more info?

Just an update, I reset my phone to factory defaults, reloaded everything, and the problem still continues, albeit with less entries vanishing. Also, I still have no problems on my Macbook that this is syncing to. So is anyone else experiencing lost address book entries on iPhone 4S?

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Address Book Sync with iPhone

My Address book is not being recognized by iTunes. None of the groups are showing up in the info section of the iTunes, iPhone syncing panel. Because of this, my contacts are not being synced. Also, it is hanging up (or taking along time) to sync my calendars.

I had the same problem. I tried all the typical suggestions, including:
• resetting sync history in iSync
• trashing iSync folder in ~/Library/Application Support
• resetting iPhone to factory defaults
• exporting Address Book archive and reimporting into Address Book
None of these worked for me. What did finally work was this:
1. Connect your iPhone to your computer and launch iTunes (so you can edit the sync settings in iTunes after the following steps, and before doing another sync.)
2. Open AddressBook preferences. Click on the vCard tab. Select vCard format 3.0 and tick 'Export notes in vCards'.
3. Export vCards for each group in Address Book, including the 'All' group. (Make sure you name each vCard file with the name of the group so you know which is which later.)
4. Quit AddressBook
5. Trash AddressBook folder from ~/Library/Application Support (or move it to another folder as a backup)
6. Launch AddressBook. All your old groups and cards should be gone.
7. Import the 'All' vCard file. (This restores all your cards but not your groups.)
8. For each of your original groups, create a new empty group and drag the corresponding vCard file from the Finder into the new group. (This just saves you having to remember which cards belong in which groups.) AddressBook will let you know that their are duplicate cards (since the 'All' vCard was previously imported) which is fine — the cards are identical so none of them change.
9. In iTunes, select your iPhone and click on the Info tab. Scroll down to the 'Advanced' section and tick 'Contacts' (so that all contacts are replaced with the new ones.) If you want to only sync selected groups to your iPhone tick 'Selected groups' in the 'Contacts' section.
10. Click the 'Apply' button to sync groups and contacts to your iPhone.
Message was edited by: Kalsta

Sync Subset of Address Book Contacts with iPhone?

Is there a way to limit the contacts in Address Book which are sync'd with the iPhone? My copy of Address Book has many contacts which are from long ago. I like to keep them around for the occasion I need to reach someone. But, I don't need them cluttering up the list of people I need to reach promptly in my iPhone.
Thanks!

The simplest way to do that would be to create a group in Contacts that has just the ones you want and only sync that group to your iPhone.

My MacBook Pro will not sync address book changes with my IPhone. Why? It used to.

My MacBook Pro will not sync address book changes with my IPhone. Why? It used to.

Then you may have to try manually resetting the syncservices folder by following Julian Write's post (from https://discussions.apple.com/message/9274781#9274781):
Ok, as you can't reset SyncServices in the "normal" way, you'll have to resort to the "other" way:
Although it's not advised to do so in normal circumstances, you'll need to manually delete the SyncServices folder.
Before doing so, you MUST make a backup of both your Contacts and Calendars:
In Address Book, choose *Export > Address Book Archive...* from the File menu.
In iCal, choose *Back up iCal...* from the File menu.
Then, make a backup of the SyncServices folder located at:
~/Library/Application Support/SyncServices
By backing everything up first, you don't risk losing anything.
Finally delete the aforementioned SyncServices folder and restart the Mac. This will force Mac OS X to recreate the SyncServices folder, and hopefully fix your problem.
I believe in Snow Leopard you can back up your calendar in File>Export>iCal Archive rather than File>Back up iCal as posted above.

I have business and personal e-mail accounts with different contacts. Can I have more than one address book on my iPhone?

I have business and personal e-mail accounts with different contacts. Can I have more than one address book on my iPhone?

Set up an additional user account and use one for work and one for personal stuff - each will have a separate address book. Turn on fast user switching for easy switching between the two.
AK

I have lost all my address book and iCal content on my MacBook Pro. How do I restore from my iPhone?

I have lost all my address book and iCal content on my MacBook Pro. How do I restore from my iPhone? I tried synchronising my iPhone to the MacPro but then lost all the content on the iPhone. I managed to get it back using the restore. This means the only content I have for Address Book and iCal sits on my iPhone!

Put one unique entry in both iCal & Address Book on your Mac. These entries can be fake, that doesn't matter, just make sure Address Book & iCal are not empty. Then when you select to sync contacts & calendars on the Info pane in iTunes, you'll get a merge or replace prompt. Select merge.

HT204150 how do i sync my macbook pro address book to my iPhone?

I just cannot figure out how to sync my macbook pro address book to my iPhone.
I have my contacts in my phone contacts on my iPhone but I want my MacBook Pro Address book transfered to my iphone contacts?
Needing step by step action list.
Big thanks to anyone who can help.

http://techtips.salon.com/sync-mac-iphone-3652.html

New iPhone won't synch Address Book groups with PowerPC G5

Last night I uploaded vCards into Address Book on G5, then organized them using Smart Groups. iPhone won't upload the groupings--so I'm left with 1,500 addresses in a flat file. That translates into too much flicking ;~}

This is certainly a major problem with the productivity of the iPhone. The Address book on the iPhone is lacking in some very important features. THere is absolutely no reason that the search ability that is required by the smart folders to work is not a part of the iPhone address book.
We have now had three updates to the phone and still the address book is not searchable. How can that be. When doing SMS you can start typing and it narrows down the address book options. Why can't the Address Book do the same thing?

How can I organize groups in Address Book while running iCloud under Lion?

I am frustrated with the new Address Book for many reasons:
It is no longer possible to view groups, list, and cards at the same time, just groups and list or list and cards. This means it is very cumbersome to organize cards to multiple groups, something that wa relatively easy before. Why not allow us to see all three at once and conveniently drag and delete?
The individual cards do not list what groups each card belongs to. Why didn't Apple include a list and a way to change the group when editing cards? Do any of the Apple programmers actually use their own programs to make them useful and convenient?
While running iCloud addresses are duplicated (one set "On My Mac" and another "iCloud"). While it is possible to view only one set or the other, I found that it is best to backup and then delete the "On My Mac" cards and groups. Even then it is confusing to navigate and move cards around.
The iCloud synch with my iPod is working well, but I have to synch my older iPhone 3G with a cable. (will not run OS X v 10.7 Lion).
The iCloud address book is not synching properly with Yahoo, but rather the Yahoo address are being pulled over to the "On My Mac" set that had been removed. Why can't we set controls of pushing or pulling data vs synching, as well as whether whether this is with the iCloud or "On My Mac" addresses?
The new address book format, while cute is too bright, hard to read and wastes a lot of space with white nothingness. Why can't we have a more attractive, easier to read, and functional address book format, with more ability to customize format for advanced users?
I suppose I may have answered my own question: basically it is possible to manage the groups as long is willing to put up with inefficiency and backs up manually by exporting the address book regularly as a backup (because so much can and does go wrong). Does anybody have more insight?

If you want to send a message to Apple, please submit it at:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/

How do I delete "prefix" in Address Book on my iPhone?

When I imported Address Book to my iPhone, it also imported my prefix field. When I receive a known phone call or I am searching for a contact, all I can see is "Mr. and Mrs...." in the screen. Certainly I need the prefix for my Macbook when writing letters, address labels, etc., but not in my iPhone. I cannot seem to find a satisfactory way to delete the prefix on my iPhone.
I did think about making a copy of AB and then deleting the prefixes, but even that seems difficult as (so far) the only way I can make that work is my deleting each prefix, individually. I have a thousand contacts and that seems awfully laborious. Finally, I'm not even sure how I could merge that into iPhone without screwing up my original Address Book. I can only imagine the **** I would create if I lost all my prefixes.
Thanks!

Hi Tom
Maybe you have solved this problem by now. I am having an issue importing contacts into the handsfree phonebook on my car. All the entries with a prefix are arranged together by the prefix and not the surname. The only workaround I have come up with is to erase the the information in the prefix field and place the prefix information in the First Name field (copy>paste>delete). Not ideal but at least everything is arranged by surname in my car which is what I need. Very clumsy for voice activated calls but at least I can find entries in my car phone book now and re-creating my address labels was straightforward.

How do I download my address book from my iphone to the bluetooth in my Mercedes GLK?

I can't get my car to accept my address book from my iPhone. I hate the idea of having to hand enter all the numbers and names.

iSync is not included in Lion. You can copy it from a 10.6 installation, and it will probably work.

Address Book entries on iPhone won't dial

Hi!
I can't call out using phone numbers that were entered into Address Book using my iPhone. Attempting to call out starts a new text message instead.
I've rebooted my phone several times. I've manually entered my time zone city, date and time. I've ensured that "Show caller ID" is on. I've deleted and recreated contacts. Nothing works.
I have this problem whether using wifi or 3GS, even with 4 bars.
Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks!

(Thanks for your response. Sorry for the long delay in replying.)
Changing the international assist settings had no effect. (And shouldn't. They're all local numbers.)
Deleting the number in the contact and re-entering it didn't work. Syncing with my laptop didn't work.
Creating a brand new contact on my laptop and syncing it with my iPhone *did* work.
I'm still unable to call any number that I enter into Address Book on my iPhone. All attempts open a text message form.
Any other ideas? Thanks in advance!

Once Mac address book synched from iphone and contacts deleted they won't resynch back

I have a problem and have spent hours researching but to no avail
1. I got a new iphone 4S and put in my mail info from yahoo, gmail and low and behold I had a contact list now in my phone. I thought, "I just love Apple!"
2. I spent all afternoon on my iphone updating my contact list with contact photos, birthdays and all the stuff I never put in on my email program or my MacPro Leopard mac addressbook.
3. With trepidation, I synched via usb with itunes my contacts and suddenly I had 3 (or more versions of my contacts on every site or device). To see what was going on (as I wasn't sure if my mac would erase iphone contacts or add to them etc) I tried putting a test contact "iphone test" on my phone, yahoo test on my yahoo account, and mac test contact on my laptop address book, and gmail test in my gmail's contacts, and synched again.... For the most part every test contact showed up everywhere (not yahoo test in gmail's account mind you)
4. GREAT I thought. I will just DELETE the contacts in the mac address book, yahoo, gmail accounts, fix my iphone duplicate contacts so I have one perfect set on the iphone and resynch and I should have my iphone contacts filling in all the right places (yahoo, gmail, and mac address book from the iphone) and they will all now be identical... SO WRONG!
5. None of the prior contacts would sync. Only new contacts will synch (ones that were never before synched, ie, a new iphone test contact WILL show up in my Mac address book but the other 100 won't (apparently the computer knows they were already synced or something.)
I am now left with all my contacts on my phone and none in my computer! I have synched in itunes about 10 times with "contacts" checked trying different settings for yahoo, gmail but no source will retake my iphone contacts now that it was synced and the mac address book deleted...
Can anyone help???

Thanks for your timely response. I really appreciate the heads up on the My Contacts Backup App since when you have gone from 4 copies of contacts to one you are starting to feel insecure...
Unfortunately, after following this to a "T" (2x) no luck... The mac address book was empty to begin with so I added three new contacts, synched and then started from there...
I unchecked the sync box and synched. Deleted 2 of the 3 contacts and checked the "sync contacts"--all contacts (I have no groups). It synched without prompting me for a merge and the new single contact did not show up in the iphone... bummer. Any other thoughts would be appreciated.
SORRY, I ACCIDENTALLY GAVE MYSELF HELPFUL POINTS AND THEY WERE FOR RANDERS4....

Syncing Mac Address Book to multiple iPhone users?

After updating my iMac to Mavericks I'm unable to sync my Address Book contacts to iPhones via USB sync.
Our usage model is that we have one set of Address Book contacts on a Mac for everyone at home (easier to maintain) and then we create unique Address Groups for each family member. In the past we used the Info tab in iTunes to specify which address group should sync with which iPhone. It worked well.
With the update to Mavericks the Info tab is gone. Apple wants users to sync their contacts via iCloud.
Security concerns notwithstanding, I don't know how to do it. How can a family of iPhone users, each with a different Apple and iCloud ID, sync to the same Address Book?
Thanks

Thank you to Gemariah for the suggestion that I should seek to import Contact details via Yahoo but to be honest whilst that may be indeed a valid work-around it is nothing if not clunky.
I have discovered that the PocketMac software is nothing to do with RIM although it is directly linked off their web-page: PocketMac do not appear to offer any real support and conversation with my network provider [ Vodaphone ] suggests that they regard the PocketMac software as little short of useless and a major source of problems.
Certainly in my experience, it is useless: it has duplicated some entries and will not allow the additional entries to be deleted. Clearly one can only hope that the RIM software which they are advertising for release in September will solve the problem but given that there is no way in which one can talk directly to RIM other than via a chargeable conversation I wonder whatb the chances are of their version being any better. I just wish that I could treat my clients in such an arrogant manner and still make money!
I would suggest that unless you want to spend time beating your head against a brick wall, do not use PocketMac software. It is a rubbish product, with support to match.

I lost my address book when I installed Mountain Lion and have not been able to recover it. WHen I type in a name in an email the address shows up, so I know it is in there. How can I restore my address book?

I don't know how to do this. I typed the question in the bar above, but apparently need to type it again here. I lost my entire address book when I installed Mountain Lion and have been unable to recover it. I know the information is in there as when I type in someone's name in an email the address always shows up right away. How can I find the information for my contacts and restore my address book? Do I need to go to the Apple Store that is 2 hours away and have an expert help me or can I find out how to do it online for free myself?

The auto-complete in Mail addresses comes from two sources: (1) The "Previous Recipients" list, which can be viewed via Mail > Window > Previous Recipients. (2) Your Address Book (now called "Contacts").
If you did in fact lose your Address Book - are you sure you don't have "Contacts" in your Applications Folder? - It sounds like you are getting addresses from source (1). If you did in fact lose your Address Book (now called "Contacts" !!), you will have to restore it from a backup.
charlie

Address book oddities with iPhone 4S, Lion & MacBook?

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