When entering a contact's phone number in the Contacts app on iOS or the Address Book on OS X, the number can be labeled iPhone rather than, say, mobile. Does doing so have any effect on how the number is treated by the OS or applications? Or is it provided for purely aesthetic purposes?
IOS – Does the ‘iPhone’ label on a Contact’s phone number enable any special handling
contactsios
Related Solutions
A custom label will have to suffice here. I have many contacts with their cell phones listed as 'mobile', and then a custom 'Google Voice' labeled number.
[edit]
An alternative to this is to make the change via Address Book.app on your computer, then sync the contacts to your phone.
Custom labels are available in all contact adding/modification screens.
First, browse to a contact, and tap the label name (to the left of a phone number, e-mail address, etc.). You will see the list of labels.
Second, swipe all the way to the bottom, and tap on "Add Custom Label".
Type in a new Custom Label;
And then it will be displayed next to the number.
It will now appear in a list of custom labels on later access.
My Verizon iPhone 4S appears to have been in some sort of international mode by default.
The fix is to 'Program' the phone via Verizon's system:
- Open Phone and dial
*228. This is the Verizon over-the-air programming number. - When the system answers, press
1for "Program or activate your phone" - Wait through the music for the call to disconnect. You should get a prompt stating something like, "Service Update Complete"
- Open the Task Manager and kill the Phone, Message, and Contacts Applications
- Wait a few minutes (I waited 3 just to be extra safe)
- Open the Message App to verify the fix.
Edit: I had to do this again on December 2nd (perhaps because my carrier profile was updated?).
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Best Answer
The iPhone label does not provide any special handling instructions or added features of any kind. It's a purely aesthetic touch that only impacts the display and voice dialing of a contact's number in the same way any other label does, such as "Home", "Work" or "Mobile".
If you are looking for further information on how the iPhone does provide special handling for other iPhones, such as iMessage and FaceTime, there is a great thread, right here on Ask Different, that details just how the iPhone, in conjunction with Apple's servers, uses the UDID and Apple ID associated with the device to provide all those special iOS only features.