Mac Format - UK (2020-04)

Clever contacts APPLE SKILLS

macformat.com @macformat APRIL 2020 | MACFORMAT | 47

HOW TO Use nicknames

HOW TO Add relationships

1

Enable short names

In iOS, you can enable short names.

Go to Settings > Contacts > Short Name

and turn the feature on. If you then opt

to Enable Prefer Nicknames, you will be

able to use your contacts’ nicknames

throughout iOS, macOS and with Siri.

2

Set a nickname

Open a contact on your iPhone/Mac

and press the Edit button. Scroll to the

bottom and select Add Field. From the

list, select Nickname. Once you have

entered the nickname, press done. You

can do this from iCloud.com as well.

3

Use nicknames

Once you have set a nickname, it will

replace the full name of the contact. This

means that the nickname will appear in

Phone, Messages, Mail, Search and Siri;

simply type in the nickname, or ask Siri,

to make a call, use FaceTime and more.

1

Choose a contact

You can link any contact in your app

with this feature. Open a contact then go

to Edit > Add Related Name. Tap the blue

‘i’ button to choose a person from your

contacts list. If the contact isn’t in your

list, type their name in the space.

2

Define relationship

Once you have finished typing in a

contact’s details, you can define their

relationship with you: friend, girlfriend,

boss and so on. Contacts now contains

50 labels to help you do just that. You

can also add your own Custom labels.

3

Use the label

After defining a relationship, you

can now use it with Siri. So you can ask

Siri to call your mother-in-law, girlfriend

or younger brother. Siri also works with

Custom labels, so you can ask it to call

your manager or car mechanic as well.

Do more with Contacts

Some apps, such as WhatsApp, work with CallKit, so you can use Siri to call via

that app. Tell Siri “call [name] with WhatsApp audio” and Siri will initiate an audio

call with that app. If Siri doesn’t pronounce a contact’s name correctly, correct it

by saying “that’s not how you say that name”. Siri will then ask you for a sample,

and will provide you with three options in an effort to match the sample. Repeat if

the options aren’t close enough. You can also create a shortcut (with the

Shortcuts app) to call/message a contact with a third-party app like Skype.

Correct Siri’s pronounciation and use other apps