iOS: How To Add A Contact To A Group On iPhone And iPad

iOS 8: Add contact to group – settings select default account

The default account for adding a new contact can be selected in the iOS settings. Go to ‘Settings‘, ‘Mail, Contacts, Calendars‘, ‘Contacts‘, ‘Default Account‘. For an iCloud account the contact is added to the group ‘All iCloud‘. There is no option to choose another iCloud group in the settings.

1. Go to contacts app on your iPhone or iPad, click on ‘Groups‘, then tap on ‘Hide all Contacts‘.
   

   iOS 8: Add contact to group – hide all contacts

2. Next, click on the group or account you want to add a new contact, e.g. iCloud contacts ‘Restaurants-Hotels‘ or ‘Address Book‘ of contact@miapple.me (Gmail Google apps account) and tap on ‘Done‘. Now You will only see the contacts of this group.
   

   iOS 8: Add contact to group – select account

3. Tap on ‘+‘ to create a new contact, fill in the data and click on ‘Done‘. The new contact is added to the selected group, e.g. to the group ‘Restaurants-Hotels‘ or ‘Address Book‘ of contact(at)miapple.me (Gmail Google apps account).
   

   iOS 8: Add contact to group – new contact

Note: If you select more than one group or account, the new contact is added to the first group or account in alphabetic order. If you choose all contact groups, then the new contact is added to the default contact account mentioned above.

2. How to add a contact to a group on iPhone and iPad using iOS 8 / iOS 9 / iOS 10 / iOS 11 third-party apps:

There are many third-party apps on iOS 8 / iOS 9 / iOS 10 to easily add, move and remove contacts. However, most of them just allow to manage iCloud contact groups. This means other contacts account like Google’s Gmail contacts or other third-party contacts are not supported.

The only acceptable app I found after hours of searching and testing is the iOS universal app ‘Simpler Contacts – Pro‘ by Yoni Tserruya. Simpler Contacts Pro got full access to all contacts of the native iOS contacts app including Facebook contacts. For example, Outlook.com Exchange, Gmail, Gmail Google apps (Google Contacts) and other accounts are supported.

Here’s how to add a contact to a group on iPhone and iPad using the iOS app ‘Simpler Contacts Pro‘:

1. Open ‘Simpler Contacts Pro‘ and tap on ‘+‘ to create a new contact. The new contact will be saved as an iCloud contact.
2. Tap on ‘All Contacts‘ and search for the new contact via scrolling. Do not use the search function. Tap & hold the new contact. A green mark appears, meaning the new contacts is selected.
   

   iOS Simpler Contacts – select contact to move

3. For adding the new contact to an iCloud group, tap on left symbol at the button  and choose ‘Add To Group‘ and select the group you want to have the contact.
4. For non-iCloud groups or account, tap on the ‘double sheet’ symbol (second left) at the bottom. Now choose whether you want to ‘Move‘ or ‘Copy‘ the contact and select the account you want the contact to be. Done.
   

   iOS Simpler Contacts – select account to move contact

Note: The lite version ‘Simpler Contacts‘ does not support moving or copying contacts between accounts. You have to upgrade to the Pro version with additional features:

iOS Simpler Contacts Pro features

• Copy or move contacts
• Merge all duplicates (Unlimited merges)
• Send group text & email (Send to unlimited number of contacts)
• Export backups (Save in Dropbox, Google Drive, email)

3. How to add a contact to a group on iPhone and iPad using iCloud.com:

On your Mac or Windows PC open an internet browser like Safari or Internet Explorer and log in to iCloud. You can create groups of contacts and add contacts to a group to make it easier to find specific contacts, such as everyone on your sports team or your healthcare providers, for example. Contacts includes a default All Contacts group.

Create a group:

1. In iCloud Contacts, click the Add button in the sidebar, then choose New Group. A new group is added, with a placeholder name.
2. Type a name for the group, then press Return or click anywhere outside the text field. The group immediately appears in alphabetical order.
3. To change the group name later, double-click it and type a new name in the text field.

Add contacts to a group:

1. Click All Contacts.
2. Drag one or more contacts from the All Contacts list to another group on the left. You can add a contact to more than one group.

To select several adjacent contacts, click the first one, then Shift-click the last one. To select multiple non-adjacent contacts, Command-click them on a Mac or Control-click them on a Windows computer.