iPad™ Portable Genius

Chapter 10. Can I Use iPad to Manage My Contacts?

One of the paradoxes of modern life is that as your contact information becomes more important, you store less and less of that information in the easiest database system of them all — your memory. That is, instead of memorizing phone numbers like you used to, you now store your contact info electronically. This isn't all that surprising because it's not just a landline number that you have to remember for each person; it might also be a cell number, an e-mail address, a Web site address, and more. That's a lot to remember, so it makes sense to go the electronic route. And for the iPad, "electronic" means the Contacts app, which is loaded with useful features that can help you organize the contact management side of your life.

Syncing Your Contacts 214

Getting Started with the Contacts App 215

Creating and Editing Contacts 216

Getting More Out of the Contacts App 222

Syncing Your Contacts

Although you can certainly add contacts directly on your iPad — and I show you how to do just that a bit later in this chapter — adding, editing, grouping, and deleting contacts is a lot easier on a computer. So a good way to approach contacts is to manage them on your Mac or Windows PC, and then sync your contacts with your iPad.

Creating contact groups

However, do you really need to sync all your contacts? For example, if you only use your iPad to contact ...