Tidal Pool Software

Contacts

The Contacts tab displays a list of contacts for a particular source and group.

Sources

The top-level view displays a list of contact sources. These may include local, Exchange, LDAP, and CardDAV sources, for example. Tap the refresh button on the top left to reload the sources and their contacts. Tap the + button to add a new contact to the default source. Tap a source to view groups for that source. Note that the All source may contain Unified contacts which merges contact data from multiple sources into one contact (this is handled by iOS). The default source is specified using the Settings app under Mail, Contacts, Calendars (Default Account).

Groups

The groups list displays all groups and organizations for the source. Select All, People, or Organizations to list all contacts, only people, or only organizations and companies. A list of groups is located in the next section. If there are contacts without an assigned group, a group called No Group is listed at the end. Finally, the Organizations section lists all contact organizations. Tap the + button to add a new contact to the source. Tap the Select button to select one or more groups to email or text.

Contacts

The contacts list shows contacts for the selected source and group. The contact name, title, and organization are displayed along with the photo (if available). Depending on the contact details, buttons to phone, text message, email, open a website, and locate an address on a map are located on the bottom right of the contact view. If more than one item is available (e.g. if there are three phone numbers for a contact), a sheet is displayed to select which item to open. If multiple phone options are available (for example, Apple Phone and Skype), a sheet will appear to select which app to use.

A search bar is located at the top of the view. Type in any contact detail (e.g. name, phone number, email address, part of a note, etc.) to filter contacts. The results are returned and grouped by the field that matches the search text.

Tap a contact to view and edit the contact details or tap the + button to add a new contact. Tap the Select button to mass select contacts to delete, email or text, add or remove from a group, or merge.

The contacts are sorted and displayed according to global contact preferences. To change these settings, launch the Settings app and tap the Mail, Contacts, Calendars item. Next, scroll to the Contacts section and update the sort and display order.

CoverFlow

To view contacts in CoverFlow mode, rotate the device to its side. Each contact will now display as an interactive business card with their name, nickname, title, organization, and photo (if available). Phone, text message, email, surf, and locate address buttons are displayed depending on the contact. A list of groups is displayed on the bottom left corner if the contact is a member of a group. The right side shows a flip arrow icon if the contact contains a note. Tap the button to flip the card and view the note. Swipe to the left or right to scroll through the contacts. An index bar is located below the cards. Tap a letter to jump to that position in the stack of cards. The CoverFlow mode may be disabled under the Settings tab.

Details

The details view shows all contact information available. It also allows you to edit and share the contact. Tap a phone number to phone or text message, email address to email, url to open the website, or address to locate the contact in the Maps app. If the contact birthday is set, the age will appear in the birthday field. A contact may be linked to other contacts if the same contact exists in multiple sources. If viewing the All source and the contact is linked, a linked section will appear at the bottom of the contact view with a list of linked contacts. Tap a linked contact to make changes or edit the unified contact to apply the changes to all linked contacts. If the contact is not linked, the bottom of the view shows the last modified and creation dates for the contact.

To share the contact, tap the Share button on the top right of the view. Select Email, iTunes File Sharing, or WiFi to send a vCard file. For iTunes File Sharing, open iTunes and select the device. Next select the Apps tab and then select ContactBook from the apps listed below File Sharing. Drag the vCard file to your desktop or select the file and click Save To... to specify the destination on your computer. Once the file has been copied, delete it from your device by selecting it and then pressing the Delete key. ContactBook does not delete the generated file. For WiFi, both the device and computer must be connected to the same WiFi network. To connect, enter the displayed URL in a browser on your computer and download the vCard file.

Tap the Edit button to edit the contact details. Add, delete, or replace the photo by tapping the add photo button or the photo itself. Tap Person if the contact is a person or Organization for an organization/company. Select groups to add or remove the contact to that group. Note that certain synced sources (e.g. Exchange) do not support groups. Phone, email, instant message, social profile, URL, address, date, and related fields all have a label to the left of the value. Tap the label to change it or add a new label by selecting custom... from the list. The right side of each phone number field specifies which app to use when calling. Select Ask for a sheet to appear if multiple phone options are available. Note that linked contacts do not support this feature. The instant message and social profile fields display the service to the right of the value. Tap the Delete Contact button at the bottom to delete the contact.

Keypad

The Keypad allows you to make calls using the Apple phone, Skype, FaceTime, or Google Voice (requires app). Enter the number and then tap the desired phone call button. The phone call buttons vary depending on the phone options enabled in Settings. Tap the + button to create a new contact with the current phone number.

Calendar

The Calendar tab shows upcoming birthdays, anniversaries, and other important contact events. Tap Month or List to view events by month or in a list. Tap the Today button to display the current date.

Month

The month view shows a month calendar with a list of events at the bottom for the currently selected date. Dates containing events show a . (period) under the date in the calendar. Both the current and selected dates are highlighted. Tap the left or right arrow at the top of the view to select the previous or next month. Tap the double left or right arrow to select the previous or next year. Tap events to view or edit the contact details.

List

The list view displays events for the previous year, current year, and next year in a table. Events are sorted by their date with the earliest events at the top and the later events at the bottom. Tap an event to view or edit the contact details.

Map

The Map tab displays contact address locations. Addresses are geocoded and then displayed on the map view. Tap the top left button to move to your current location. Tap the search field at the top to filter which contacts to display within the current region. Note that a maximum of 1,000 contacts may be displayed on the map at a time. The displayed contacts are updated whenever the map region is changed.

Settings

The Settings tab allows you to manage app settings, find duplicate contacts, import and export contacts, and reset the app.

Tap About to view app info, statistics, contact details, or to write an app review.

The Self field allows you to select a contact to represent yourself. This makes it easier to share your contact info with others. Note the contact must be included in the default source.

Tap the Sources field to see a list of contact sources. To rename a source, tap the source and type in a new name. Tap the refresh button on the top right to refresh the sources and their contacts.

Tap the Groups field to add, edit, or delete groups. Groups are used to organize your contacts (e.g. work, friends).

The Labels field displays custom labels that can be associated with phone numbers, email addresses, instant message accounts, social profiles, URLs, addresses, dates, and related people.

Tap Notifications to enable local iOS alerts to remind you of important dates. Reminders may be enabled for contact birthdays, anniversaries, and other custom date labels. They may be configured to appear the day of and/or before the actual date. The time of day that the reminders should appear may also be set.

Tap Phone Options to specify which apps are available when phoning contacts.

The Save Photos to Album option controls whether or not to save new contact photos to the system photo album.

The CoverFlow option enables CoverFlow mode when the device is rotated to landscape view.

The Format Phone Numbers option specifies whether or not to format phone numbers.

Enable the Prompt Before Calling option to display a confirmation prompt before the call is placed.

Tap Share Options to specify options such as the file type (vCard or CSV) and which fields to include when sharing contacts. Note these options are saved independently from the settings used when exporting contacts.

Tap Find Duplicates to display a list of possible contact duplicates. Duplicate contacts may be deleted or merged. Note that only contacts from the default source are searched.

Tap the Import button to import vCard and CSV files using iTunes File Sharing or WiFi. For iTunes File Sharing, open iTunes and select the device. Next select the Apps tab and then select ContactBook from the apps listed below File Sharing. Click the Add button and select the file from your computer. For WiFi, make sure both your device and computer are connected to the same WiFi network. Next, enter the displayed URL in a browser on your computer and upload the file. If importing a CSV file, the import fields view is displayed. This allows you to map columns from the CSV file to contact fields. Tap a column to specify the field settings. Enable Import to import the column and select the Field to map the column to a field. Date fields include a Format setting for specifying the date format. The date format must follow conventions specified by the Unicode Technical Standard #35. Once configured, tap Done to import the file. ContactBook will display a list of valid contacts found in the file. Tap a contact to edit its contents or tap the - (minus) button to delete the contact from the list. When ready, tap the Done button at the top right and either Import or Delete.

Tap the Export button to export a vCard or CSV file by Email, iTunes File Sharing, WiFi, or to another app. Next, select which contacts to include in the export. By default, the self contact is selected if the Self field is set. Select sources, groups, or organizations to include their members. Tap Options to configure the export options including the file type (vCard or CSV) and which fields to include in the export. For iTunes File Sharing, open iTunes and select the device. Next select the Apps tab and then select ContactBook from the apps listed below File Sharing. Drag the file to your desktop or select it and click Save To... to specify the destination on your computer. Once the file has been copied, delete it from your device by selecting it and then pressing the Delete key. ContactBook does not delete the generated file. For WiFi, both the device and computer must be connected to the same WiFi network. To connect, enter the displayed URL in a browser on your computer and download the file.

Tap Reset to reset the address cache or the entire app. The address cache saves the geocoded addresses and their coordinates and is used in the Map tab. Resetting the app resets all app settings. Note that this does not affect the system contacts database.