Ever since iPhone 2.0, I’ve been confused as to why Apple decided to include a Contacts application separate from the Phone application. They were and still are the same application, save the keypad. I could understand the implementation of a Contacts application if there were some added features but sadly, that’s not the case. There have been attempts in the App Store at Contact applications with more features than the stock iPhone app, and I have tried a lot. I haven’t liked any as much as I do WorldCard Contacts.
Contacts
The first thing I noticed about the application is the color scheme. The colors used in this application are far superior to the iPhone’s stock Contacts application in my opinion. They’re much easier on the eyes. You also can’t help but notice the pictures next to your contact’s names. This is a feature that I, among others, have been clamoring for in a Contacts application without having to jailbreak your iPhone. Of course, if you don’t have photos for your contacts it’s not going to look so hot. The Contacts tab works just like the native Contacts tab, where you can edit everything right from the application. This is a nice feature, as I’ve tried other Contacts apps where you get redirected to the native Contacts app when you try to edit any names.
Favorites
The Favorites tab in Contacts made little sense to me until this application. Sure, I get going to the tab to see your most used contacts, but squinting at names under the Favorites tab made little difference than squinting at names under the Contacts tab. What if you got big, giant, humongous pictures of your favorite contacts. Touch a picture and you’re placing the call faster than you can say…contacts.
Cards
This is the area of the application that really shines and sets its apart from other Contact apps. Now, I’m not someone with a lot of business cards, though I do have a few that I was able to try out. Let me just say, this area works wonderfully. The Cards tab allows you to organize all the business cards you have by putting them on your phone instead of lugging around that circa 1967 rolodex you have. There are many features implemented within the cards section which is impressive since this software is 1.0
A pretty standard feature is the ability to take a photo of the business card while you’re in the app. This is a given, but still it’s nice to note it. When you take the photo, have the option of cropping it incase your photography skills with business cards are a little rusty. I know mine were, as you can see the pre-cropped image is pretty ugly compared to the above cropped version in my cards library.
This feature alone is something that surprised me when the option popped up. When you’ve taken the picture and properly cropped it to your liking, you’re presented with a few options from what resemble a dock, and a few options on the top corner of the screen. The dock options include Call, SMS, Mail, Web, and Map. These options don’t work exactly as you’d expect however. When you tap on a given option, up comes an inline keypad or entry box. For example, if you type the phone icon, up comes a dial pad allowing you to enter the number of whatever is on the business card you’re viewing, and the same goes for text messaging. Pressing the Phone or SMS icon from that point takes you to the respective application.The Email, Web, and Maps icons work the same way, but instead of a keypad you get your standard QWERTY keyboard. With Email, you type in the address you want to send to, Web allows you to search whatever you’d like, and Maps allows you to enter the address and bring it up in your native Maps app. Oh yeah, this all happens in landscape too if you so choose, and you can swipe through your contacts in full screen as you would your photos. There’s also multitouch just like Photos.
The icons in the top right corner allow you to add info about the card, crop it, and delete it if need be. The only option that doesn’t quite speak for itself is info. When you tap it, you get a faceless contact until you tap ‘edit’. This should look familiar to what happens when you edit a contact in Contacts or Phone, and it’s supposed to. By entering the name of your contact, you can organize your business cards alphabetically. However, if you enter nothing but a company name you won’t get any kind of alphabetization which is disappointing.
More
There are only a few things that I can think of that can’t really be put in their own group, and one of those things is Groups. Unlike the stock Contacts app on the iPhone, WorldCard Contacts lets you not only manipulate the contacts within your groups but also create and delete groups entirely. You can filter these contacts by the groups on your iPhone, the business cards in your Cards tab, or both. I like.
Of course, there are settings. You can organize by First, Last or Last, First and choose your sorting order vs. your display order.
That’s all folks!
That is WorldCard Contacts. I’ve been using it for a week now, and it has fully replaced my stock Contacts app. The only thing I could ask for in this app is an implementation of birthdays for my contacts…maybe with push? This is still a 1.0 release, so you can only expect this app to get better. While the app is more geared toward business users, what with the Cards tab and all, there’s no reason for it to be only for business oriented people.
Additionally, I’d like to ask everyone not to contact the phone numbers shown in these screenshots out of respect.
WorldCard Contacts is available now and on sale in the App Store for $1.99
***Penpower Technology Ltd. provided a promo code to Just Another iPhone Blog for the review of WorldCard Contacts. For further information regarding our site ‘s review policies, please see the ‘About ‘ page.
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TAGS: iphone apps, iPhone contacts apps
