Don’t want to give an app access to your entire contacts book? In this tutorial, we will show you how to allow an iPhone or iPad app on iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 to read just selected contacts instead of all of them.
iOS has long asked for your permission before allowing an app to access sensitive things like contacts, location, photos, media library, microphone, camera, health data, and more. Previous versions of iOS also gave you the power to allow an app to access just the selected pictures instead of your entire photo library or your approximate location instead of your precise location.
iOS 18 builds on that and now gives you the control to choose which contacts you want an app to have access to. This can be handy in several situations.
Why allow an app to access only selected contacts instead of everything
Giving you the control to pick and choose which contacts a third-party app can access is a thoughtful addition to increasing your privacy.
Imagine you have both personal and business contacts on your iPhone. Now, you may allow WhatsApp to access only your personal contacts, while WhatsApp Business has access to just 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.
After you download 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 is built to access your contacts. Some apps display this permission popup only when you do something inside them where contact access is needed or tap an option to allow them to ask you permission.
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 will see the contact pictures or initials for your chosen contacts. Tap Allow Selected Contacts, and now this app has access to only these selected contacts and 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 running iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 and go to Privacy & Security.
2) Select Contacts.
3) You will 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 Done.
7) Review the list of contacts you selected and tap 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 Done > 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 does not 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 permission and allow them to access just selected contacts, the ones they had access to previously continue to stay saved on their servers.
You can fix this by going to their privacy settings in the app or website and requesting them to delete your saved contacts. After that, you can allow them access to just the selected contacts.
Several apps like Facebook, Telegram, and more allow you to delete existing contacts they have saved.
Do more with your contacts: