Keeping Contacts Separate (Between SIM cards) (FP1)

[nick]

Hi all,

I have been using the dual SIM function on my phone for almost 2 years now, with a personal and work SIM cards. I don’t like my work contacts being mixed up with my personal contacts, & I’m considering a separate work phone to keep the separation.

Is it possible to keep my personal and work contacts separate on the FP1? Either in the OS or via some kind of (free) application? Thanks.

[jftr]

If you are inside the contacts app (it’s probably called “People”), press the menu button (left most button below the screen. There you can select “contacts to display”. I don’t think there is the option to distinguish between contacts for either SIM. However, if your work and private contacts are stored separately (say, private contacts on the phone and work contacts are synchronized via an Exchange or Google account), you can select which ones to show by (de)selecting one of the accounts.

[nick]

Thanks. I can see how I might be able to use this if I go through all of my contacts and label them up.

Is there an easier or more elegant solution? Like an application that has a separate phone book which I can also use to dial from?

[Stefan]

I just found an easier solution! Unfortunately you have to use a program with an address book on your computer to do this (like Thunderbird or Outlook) and then transfer your contacts to your phone.

The trick is that you put your contacts in two different groups/categories (might be labeled differently). On your phone you then go to Contacts to display and select your account. You will be presented with three tick boxes, e.g. :

• [x] work
• [ ] private
• [ ] all other contacts

So when you get home you just take away the tick at “work” and check “private”.

Note: This is how it works in Android KitKat 4.4, which also introduces the possibility to modify group membership directly on your phone (opposed to do it on your PC). I’m not sure if it works this way in Android 4.2 too. If not, you might want to join the alpha test group for Android 4.4. @jftr will be able to tell you more about this.