Synchronize Your Shared Google Contacts With Your iPhone Native Address Book

Time needed: 3 minutes

There may be some reasons why you do not want to use the Shared Contacts mobile app. Instead, you can simply synchronize your shared contacts with your legacy native iOS Contact book as follows:

1. Let’s begin by signing into your account on Shared Contacts for Gmail. Choose the specific label you would like to share.

   

2. Click on the Share Icon of your chosen contact list (label).

   The shared icon is shown on the right-hand side of your labels.
   

3. Add your collaborators by typing in their email addresses. Be sure to set the collaborators’ access permissions by clicking on the downward arrow to view all permission settings.

   In this step, users can select “Sync these shared contacts with your mobile devices and Outlook”.
   

4. If you have missed the previous step and want to synchronize an already shared contact label, enable the “Mobile and Outlook” sync toggle:
   

   Activating the toggle ensures that shared contacts are synced to the users’ general Google Contacts and not solely visible in their shared labels. This makes integrations with Google Contacts hassle-free. However, by restricting this access, collaborators avoid having unnecessary contacts synced to their Google Contacts, outside of their designed label.
   

5. Well done! The sync is completed from Shared Contacts for Gmail. Now, let’s activate the sync on the iPhone.

   Open your iPhone > Settings app
   

6. Scroll down to click on “Contacts”.

   
   
   

7. Click on “Accounts”.

   
   

8. Tap “Add account“.
   

   

9. Choose Google.

   Follow the instructions to sign in to your Google Account.
   

10. Activate the “Contacts” toggle to sync with your iPhone, and click save.

    Lastly, open your iPhone Contacts app to begin the sync. You can manage and edit these settings at any given time.