Contacts

Unified contacts, calls, texts, and social updates in one place

Contacts aims to replace the stock address book with a communications hub that blends your phonebook with popular social networks. Link accounts from Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and Google+, and the app pulls profile photos and other details into each contact card. You can call or send texts without leaving the interface, and there are features for posting updates from inside the app, so staying in touch does not require hopping between separate tools.

The biggest hurdle is getting everything connected. You need to sign in to each network individually, and if you use two step verification, expect setup to take longer. Once your accounts are linked, Contacts attempts to merge duplicates and consolidate entries that exist across multiple services. The merge scanner can miss matches, though, and long time users with a crowded address book may see imperfect pairing or leftover duplicates. The app also imports every account it finds on your device, which can lead to clutter if you juggle multiple emails or several Twitter profiles. Customization options for filtering and presentation are limited, so cleaning up that influx relies mostly on the built in sort and merge tools.

After the initial preparation, navigation is straightforward. Social feeds and messaging hooks sit alongside standard information, making it easy to start a call, fire off a text, or share an update. There are ample sorting choices to view contacts the way you prefer. On first launch you will wait through a lengthy sync, but after that it runs smoothly. It shines most when setting up a new device with fewer legacy entries to reconcile.

A recent update adds batch deletion for message threads, plus performance tweaks and bug fixes. Overall, Contacts is a capable alternative to the built in app, particularly if you want communication and social context in one place, though it would benefit from smarter duplicate detection and deeper customization.