Beside can import contacts from your phone’s native Contacts app (iPhone or Android). When you add or edit a contact in your device’s Contacts app, it will automatically appear in Beside.
If you save a contact inside the Beside app, it will be stored in Beside only, and it won’t be added to your device’s Contacts app.
Before you start: how contact access works
Your contacts sync when:
You grant the Beside mobile app permission to access contacts
Changes are made in your device’s Contacts app
📌 If contacts are missing or incomplete, it’s almost always a permissions issue on the device.
If your contacts do not display correctly within Beside even after enabling permissions, simply disable and then re-enable contact access for Beside in your phone's settings.
This refreshes the synchronization process and resolves most issues related to missing profiles or details.
iPhone: About Apple’s new permission flow
When Beside requests access, Apple now gives you two options:
1️⃣ Select Contacts
Allows you to choose/pick contacts one at a time
Beside can only import the specific contacts you select
Use this if you want to restrict access
2️⃣ Allow Full Access (recommended)
Grants Beside access to your entire address book
Beside can import your entire address book automatically
Access can be changed anytime in iOS Settings
🔧 How to grant full access to your contacts
If you accidentally chose Select Contacts and expected everything to sync, follow the steps below to switch to Full Access.
Steps to Grant Full Access to Beside
Open iOS Settings: Tap the Settings app on your iOS device.
Navigate to Beside Settings: Scroll down to the list of apps at the bottom. Find and tap on Beside.
Access Contact Permissions: In the Beside settings, tap on Contacts.
Select Full Access: You’ll see two options: Selected Contacts and All Contacts. Tap on All Contacts to grant full access.
Restart Beside: Close the Beside app completely. Re-open Beside to apply the new permissions.
Your iOS contacts will now import automatically into the Beside app. ✅
ℹ️ Note:
If the contact exists in your phone’s Contacts app → it’s a device contact
If the contact was created inside Beside → it’s a Beside-only contact
⚠️ Known limitation:
On iPhone, contact permissions control what Beside can access going forward.
If you previously allowed full access, some contacts may remain visible in Beside even after switching permissions to None or Selected Contacts.
To fully remove a device contact from Beside, it must be deleted from your iPhone’s Contacts app.
Android: Contact permissions
On Android, the contact permission is simpler.
You only have one choice: Allow Beside to access contacts.
To verify or enable it:
Open Settings
Tap Apps → Beside
Tap Permissions
Enable Contacts
Restart the Beside app
Android devices sync immediately after permissions are updated. ✅
Why allow full access?
It’s easier = Import everything at once: Import all your contacts at once without adding them individually.
Better caller experience: Beside can function optimally with your address book. This means you can easily tap to call people directly from the app and see real names instead of phone numbers when calls come in.
Safe & private: Beside ensures that all shared contact information is strongly encrypted and used only to enhance your app experience - never sold, never shared.
Troubleshooting: missing contacts.
If your contacts are missing or appear incomplete within Beside:
Open your device's settings and navigate to the Beside app.
Disable contact access and then re-enable it.
This will refresh synchronization between Beside and your address book, resolving most issues.
If contacts are still missing, reach out through the in-app support chat, we’re here to help!
Suggested contacts
When you receive or make a call with a number that isn’t saved in your contacts, Beside can now automatically create a suggested contact for you.
Here’s how it works:
During the call, Beside attempts to extract the caller’s name (and email, when available)
A contact is created automatically to help you identify the person and follow up easily
These contacts are prefixed with a
~(for example:~Alex Martin)
This prefix helps distinguish suggested contacts created by Beside from contacts you’ve manually saved on your device.
👉 You can rename, edit, or delete these contacts at any time, just like regular contacts.
FAQs
How can I identify contacts that are already using Beside?
How can I identify contacts that are already using Beside?
When you open your contact list on Beside, any contact who has an active Beside account will appear with the label “Already on Beside.”
How it works
Beside compares the phone numbers in your device’s Contacts app with existing Beside user accounts.
If there’s a match, that contact is labeled “Already on Beside” in your contact list.
How to check
Open the Beside app
Tap the ➕ icon (top right) to open your contact list
Look for contacts labeled “Already on Beside”
This makes it easy to:
quickly see who in your network already uses Beside
start conversations right away
ℹ️ If you previously saw a notification about a contact joining Beside, that notification can’t be retrieved later. The contact list is the best way to check at any time.
How do I delete contacts from Beside?
How do I delete contacts from Beside?
Deleting a contact depends on where the contact was originally created.
Contacts created in your device’s Contacts app (iPhone or Android)
These contacts cannot be deleted from the Beside app:
If your device’s Contacts app is synced with Beside, these contacts will always appear in your Beside contact list.
To remove them from Beside, you must delete the contact directly from your device’s Contacts app.
Once deleted or removed at the device level, Beside will update automatically
Contacts saved inside the Beside app
These contacts exist only in Beside and do not appear in your device’s Contacts app. They can only be deleted from within the Beside app:
To delete a Beside-only contact:
Open your Beside mobile app
Tap the ➕ icon at the top right corner of your screen to open your Beside contact list
Tap the contact you want to delete. This will open the text conversation.
Tap the contact’s name at the top of the screen to open the contact card.
Scroll down and tap Delete Contact.
⚠️ Known limitation - iPhone:
If you don’t have an existing text conversation with that contact, or if the conversation was deleted, you won’t be able to open the contact card and delete the contact from the app.
This behavior is due to how iOS handles contact permissions and caching.
⚠️ Known limitation - Android:
Disabling contact permissions may temporarily hide all contacts in Beside, including Beside-only contacts.
These contacts are not deleted and will reappear once permissions are re-enabled.
Our team is aware of this limitation and is actively working on improving this experience in a future update.
Can I choose which contacts sync?
Can I choose which contacts sync?
Yes, on iPhone only, via Selected Contacts.
On Android, contact access is all-or-nothing.