Don’t want to give an app access to your entire contacts book?
In this step-by-step tutorial, we show you how to allow an iPhone or iPad app to read just selected contacts instead of all of them.
Giving you control over which contacts a third-party app can access is a thoughtful way to increase your privacy.
Imagine you have both personal and business contacts on your iPhone. Now, you can allow WhatsApp to access only your personal contacts, while WhatsApp Business can access only your office contacts.
Some apps, like Instagram and Facebook, can access all your contacts to build your profile around them. After that, they may show you profile suggestions and show yours to others based on these contacts. And chances are you may not want your personal Instagram or Facebook profile to show up as a suggestion to extended family members or distant work associates.
Allow an iOS app to access only selected contacts
You can do this when you open an app for the first time or later in the Settings app. We’ll explain both methods so all your new and current apps are covered.
For a new app
1) Download an app and open it. We’re using this handy Birthday Reminders app.
Note that an app will show a prompt if it’s built to access your contacts. Some apps display this permission popup only when you do something inside them where contact access is needed.
2) Tap Continue on the permission popup.
3) Now, tap Select Contacts instead of Allow Full Access.
4) Pick the contacts you want this app to access and tap the Continue button.
5) You’ll see the contact pictures or initials for your chosen contacts. Tap Allow Selected Contacts, and this app will have access only to the selected contacts, not your entire list!
Select contacts for existing apps
If an app already has access to your entire Contacts app library or has no access, you can change this and have it access a few selected contacts.
1) Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad and go to Privacy & Security.
2) Select Contacts.
3) You’ll now see all the apps that have requested to read your contacts list. You may have allowed some apps full access to your contacts, while others may not have that privilege. Tap an app whose contacts access settings you want to change.
Note: If you expect an app here and don’t see it, that means this particular app never asked your permission to access your contacts in the first place, or it’s built in such a way that it requires no access to contacts.
4) Select Limited Access instead of Full Access or None.
5) Tap Edit.
6) Select the contacts and hit the checkmark icon or Done.
7) Review the list of contacts you selected and tap the checkmark icon or Done again.
Edit selected contacts
Imagine you allowed WhatsApp to access just your family contacts. After a few weeks, you add new contacts for a few family members.
Now, if WhatsApp had access to all your contacts, it would have picked up those new contacts on its own and shown them as potential people you can chat with.
However, since you have only allowed it to access selected contacts, you must go to iPhone Settings > Privacy & Security > Contacts > WhatsApp > Edit Selected Contacts. Tap Edit from here, choose the new contacts, and tap the checkmark icon or Done. This app now has access to these new contacts. You can also use the same steps to deselect existing selected contacts.
Tip: If the app doesn’t show these new contacts, force quit and reopen it. In case that fails to show them, restart your iPhone or iPad.
Remember to delete existing contacts from the app’s servers
Apps like Facebook access your contacts and save them to their servers, often in perpetuity.
Now, even after you edit their permissions to allow access only to selected contacts, the ones they previously had access to remain saved on their servers.
You can fix this by going to their privacy settings in the app or on the website and asking them to delete your saved contacts. After that, you can grant them access only to the selected contacts.
Several apps like Facebook, Telegram, and more, allow you to delete existing contacts they have saved.
Do more with your contacts: