Contacts

Contacts

The contacts object provides access to the device contacts database.

Important privacy note: Collection and use of contact data raises important privacy issues. Your app's privacy policy should discuss how the app uses contact data and whether it is shared with any other parties. Contact information is considered sensitive because it reveals the people with whom a person communicates. Therefore, in addition to your app's privacy policy, you should strongly consider providing a just-in-time notice prior to your app accessing or using contact data (if the device operating system doesn't do so already). That notice should provide the same information noted above, as well as obtaining the user's permission (e.g., by presenting choices for "OK" and "No Thanks"). Note that some app marketplaces may require your app to provide just-in-time notice and obtain permission from the user prior to accessing contact data. A clear and easy to understand user experience surrounding the use of contact data will help avoid user confusion and perceived misuse of contact data. For more information, please see the Privacy Guide.

Methods

Arguments

Objects

Permissions

Android

app/res/xml/config.xml

<plugin name="Contacts" value="org.apache.cordova.ContactManager" />

app/AndroidManifest.xml

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_CONTACTS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_CONTACTS" />

BlackBerry WebWorks

www/plugins.xml

<plugin name="Contact" value="org.apache.cordova.pim.Contact" />

www/config.xml

<feature id="blackberry.find"        required="true" version="1.0.0.0" />
<feature id="blackberry.identity"    required="true" version="1.0.0.0" />
<feature id="blackberry.pim.Address" required="true" version="1.0.0.0" />
<feature id="blackberry.pim.Contact" required="true" version="1.0.0.0" />

iOS

config.xml

<plugin name="Contacts" value="CDVContacts" />

Windows Phone

Properties/WPAppManifest.xml

<Capabilities>
    <Capability Name="ID_CAP_CONTACTS" />
</Capabilities>

Reference: Application Manifest for Windows Phone

contacts.create

Returns a new Contact object.

var contact = navigator.contacts.create(properties);

Description

The contacts.create method is synchronous, and returns a new Contact object.

This method does not retain the Contact object in the device contacts database, for which you need to invoke the Contact.save method.

Supported Platforms

Quick Example 

var myContact = navigator.contacts.create({"displayName": "Test User"});

Full Example 

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Contact Example</title>

    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="cordova-x.x.x.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">

    // Wait for device API libraries to load
    //
    document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);

    // device APIs are available
    //
    function onDeviceReady() {
        var myContact = navigator.contacts.create({"displayName": "Test User"});
        myContact.note = "This contact has a note.";
        console.log("The contact, " + myContact.displayName + ", note: " + myContact.note);
    }


    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Example</h1>
    <p>Create Contact</p>
  </body>
</html>

contacts.find

Queries the device contacts database and returns one or more Contact objects, each containing the fields specified.

navigator.contacts.find(contactFields, contactSuccess, contactError, contactFindOptions);

Description

The contacts.find method executes asynchronously, querying the device contacts database and returning an array of Contact objects. The resulting objects are passed to the contactSuccess callback function specified by the contactSuccess parameter.

The contactFields parameter specifies the fields to be used as a search qualifier, and only those results are passed to the contactSuccess callback function. A zero-length contactFields parameter is invalid and results in ContactError.INVALID_ARGUMENT_ERROR. A contactFields value of "*" returns all contact fields.

The contactFindOptions.filter string can be used as a search filter when querying the contacts database. If provided, a case-insensitive, partial value match is applied to each field specified in the contactFields parameter. If there's a match for any of the specified fields, the contact is returned.

Parameters

Supported Platforms

Quick Example 

function onSuccess(contacts) {
    alert('Found ' + contacts.length + ' contacts.');
};

function onError(contactError) {
    alert('onError!');
};

// find all contacts with 'Bob' in any name field
var options      = new ContactFindOptions();
options.filter   = "Bob";
options.multiple = true;
var fields       = ["displayName", "name"];
navigator.contacts.find(fields, onSuccess, onError, options);

Full Example 

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>Contact Example</title>
        <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="cordova-x.x.x.js"></script>
        <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">

            // Wait for device API libraries to load
            document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);

            // device APIs are available

            function onDeviceReady() {
                // find all contacts with 'Bob' in any name field
                var options = new ContactFindOptions();
                options.filter = "Bob";
                var fields = ["displayName", "name"];
                navigator.contacts.find(fields, onSuccess, onError, options);
            }

            // onSuccess: Get a snapshot of the current contacts

            function onSuccess(contacts) {
                for (var i = 0; i < contacts.length; i++) {
                    console.log("Display Name = " + contacts[i].displayName);
                }
            }

            // onError: Failed to get the contacts

            function onError(contactError) {
                alert('onError!');
            }
        </script>
    </head>

    <body>
        <h1>Example</h1>
        <p>Find Contacts</p>
    </body>
</html>

Contact

Contains properties that describe a contact, such as a user's personal or business contact.

Properties

Methods

Details

The Contact object represents a user's contact. Contacts can be created, stored, or removed from the device contacts database. Contacts can also be retrieved (individually or in bulk) from the database by invoking the contacts.find method.

NOTE: Not all of the contact fields listed above are supported on every device platform. Please check each platform's Quirks section for details.

Supported Platforms

Save Quick Example 

function onSuccess(contact) {
    alert("Save Success");
};

function onError(contactError) {
    alert("Error = " + contactError.code);
};

// create a new contact object
var contact = navigator.contacts.create();
contact.displayName = "Plumber";
contact.nickname = "Plumber";            // specify both to support all devices

// populate some fields
var name = new ContactName();
name.givenName = "Jane";
name.familyName = "Doe";
contact.name = name;

// save to device
contact.save(onSuccess,onError);

Clone Quick Example 

    // clone the contact object
    var clone = contact.clone();
    clone.name.givenName = "John";
    console.log("Original contact name = " + contact.name.givenName);
    console.log("Cloned contact name = " + clone.name.givenName);

Remove Quick Example 

function onSuccess() {
    alert("Removal Success");
};

function onError(contactError) {
    alert("Error = " + contactError.code);
};

    // remove the contact from the device
    contact.remove(onSuccess,onError);

Full Example 

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Contact Example</title>

    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="cordova-x.x.x.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">

    // Wait for device API libraries to load
    //
    document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);

    // device APIs are available
    //
    function onDeviceReady() {
        // create
        var contact = navigator.contacts.create();
        contact.displayName = "Plumber";
        contact.nickname = "Plumber";                 // specify both to support all devices
        var name = new ContactName();
        name.givenName = "Jane";
        name.familyName = "Doe";
        contact.name = name;

        // save
        contact.save(onSaveSuccess,onSaveError);

        // clone
        var clone = contact.clone();
        clone.name.givenName = "John";
        console.log("Original contact name = " + contact.name.givenName);
        console.log("Cloned contact name = " + clone.name.givenName);

        // remove
        contact.remove(onRemoveSuccess,onRemoveError);
    }

    // onSaveSuccess: Get a snapshot of the current contacts
    //
    function onSaveSuccess(contact) {
        alert("Save Success");
    }

    // onSaveError: Failed to get the contacts
    //
    function onSaveError(contactError) {
        alert("Error = " + contactError.code);
    }

    // onRemoveSuccess: Get a snapshot of the current contacts
    //
    function onRemoveSuccess(contacts) {
        alert("Removal Success");
    }

    // onRemoveError: Failed to get the contacts
    //
    function onRemoveError(contactError) {
        alert("Error = " + contactError.code);
    }

    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Example</h1>
    <p>Find Contacts</p>
  </body>
</html>

Android 2.X Quirks

BlackBerry WebWorks (OS 5.0 and higher) Quirks

iOS Quirks

Windows Phone 7 and 8 Quirks

ContactAddress

Contains address properties for a Contact object.

Properties

Details

The ContactAddress object stores the properties of a single address of a contact. A Contact object may include more than one address in a ContactAddress[] array.

Supported Platforms

Quick Example 

// display the address information for all contacts

function onSuccess(contacts) {
    for (var i = 0; i < contacts.length; i++) {
        for (var j = 0; j < contacts[i].addresses.length; j++) {
            alert("Pref: "         + contacts[i].addresses[j].pref          + "\n" +
                "Type: "           + contacts[i].addresses[j].type          + "\n" +
                "Formatted: "      + contacts[i].addresses[j].formatted     + "\n" +
                "Street Address: " + contacts[i].addresses[j].streetAddress + "\n" +
                "Locality: "       + contacts[i].addresses[j].locality      + "\n" +
                "Region: "         + contacts[i].addresses[j].region        + "\n" +
                "Postal Code: "    + contacts[i].addresses[j].postalCode    + "\n" +
                "Country: "        + contacts[i].addresses[j].country);
        }
    }
};

function onError(contactError) {
    alert('onError!');
};

// find all contacts
var options = new ContactFindOptions();
options.filter = "";
var filter = ["displayName", "addresses"];
navigator.contacts.find(filter, onSuccess, onError, options);

Full Example 

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Contact Example</title>

    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="cordova-x.x.x.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">

    // Wait for device API libraries to load
    //
    document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);

    // device APIs are available
    //
    function onDeviceReady() {
        // find all contacts
        var options = new ContactFindOptions();
        options.filter = "";
        var filter = ["displayName", "addresses"];
        navigator.contacts.find(filter, onSuccess, onError, options);
    }

    // onSuccess: Get a snapshot of the current contacts
    //
    function onSuccess(contacts) {
        // display the address information for all contacts
        for (var i = 0; i < contacts.length; i++) {
            for (var j = 0; j < contacts[i].addresses.length; j++) {
                alert("Pref: "           + contacts[i].addresses[j].pref          + "\n" +
                      "Type: "           + contacts[i].addresses[j].type          + "\n" +
                      "Formatted: "      + contacts[i].addresses[j].formatted     + "\n" +
                      "Street Address: " + contacts[i].addresses[j].streetAddress + "\n" +
                      "Locality: "       + contacts[i].addresses[j].locality      + "\n" +
                      "Region: "         + contacts[i].addresses[j].region        + "\n" +
                      "Postal Code: "    + contacts[i].addresses[j].postalCode    + "\n" +
                      "Country: "        + contacts[i].addresses[j].country);
            }
        }
    };

    // onError: Failed to get the contacts
    //
    function onError(contactError) {
        alert('onError!');
    }

    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Example</h1>
    <p>Find Contacts</p>
  </body>
</html>

Android 2.X Quirks

BlackBerry WebWorks (OS 5.0 and higher) Quirks

iOS Quirks

ContactField

Supports generic fields in a Contact object. Some properties stored as ContactField objects include email addresses, phone numbers, and URLs.

Properties

Details

The ContactField object is a reusable component that represents contact fields generically. Each ContactField object contains a value, type, and pref property. A Contact object stores several properties in ContactField[] arrays, such as phone numbers and email addresses.

In most instances, there are no pre-determined values for a ContactField object's type attribute. For example, a phone number can specify type values of home, work, mobile, iPhone, or any other value that is supported by a particular device platform's contact database. However, for the Contact photos field, the type field indicates the format of the returned image: url when the value attribute contains a URL to the photo image, or base64 when the value contains a base64-encoded image string.

Supported Platforms

Quick Example 

    // create a new contact
    var contact = navigator.contacts.create();

    // store contact phone numbers in ContactField[]
    var phoneNumbers = [];
    phoneNumbers[0] = new ContactField('work', '212-555-1234', false);
    phoneNumbers[1] = new ContactField('mobile', '917-555-5432', true); // preferred number
    phoneNumbers[2] = new ContactField('home', '203-555-7890', false);
    contact.phoneNumbers = phoneNumbers;

    // save the contact
    contact.save();

Full Example 

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Contact Example</title>

    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="cordova-x.x.x.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">

    // Wait for device API libraries to load
    //
    document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);

    // device APIs are available
    //

    function onDeviceReady() {
        // create a new contact
        var contact = navigator.contacts.create();

        // store contact phone numbers in ContactField[]
        var phoneNumbers = [];
        phoneNumbers[0] = new ContactField('work', '212-555-1234', false);
        phoneNumbers[1] = new ContactField('mobile', '917-555-5432', true); // preferred number
        phoneNumbers[2] = new ContactField('home', '203-555-7890', false);
        contact.phoneNumbers = phoneNumbers;

        // save the contact
        contact.save();

        // search contacts, returning display name and phone numbers
        var options = new ContactFindOptions();
        options.filter = "";
        filter = ["displayName", "phoneNumbers"];
        navigator.contacts.find(filter, onSuccess, onError, options);
    }

    // onSuccess: Get a snapshot of the current contacts
    //
    function onSuccess(contacts) {
        for (var i = 0; i < contacts.length; i++) {
            // display phone numbers
            for (var j = 0; j < contacts[i].phoneNumbers.length; j++) {
                alert("Type: "      + contacts[i].phoneNumbers[j].type  + "\n" +
                      "Value: "     + contacts[i].phoneNumbers[j].value + "\n" +
                      "Preferred: " + contacts[i].phoneNumbers[j].pref);
            }
        }
    };

    // onError: Failed to get the contacts
    //
    function onError(contactError) {
        alert('onError!');
    }

    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Example</h1>
    <p>Find Contacts</p>
  </body>
</html>

Android Quirks

BlackBerry WebWorks (OS 5.0 and higher) Quirks

iOS Quirks

ContactFindOptions

Contains properties that can be used to filter the results of a contacts.find operation.

Properties

Supported Platforms

Quick Example 

// success callback
function onSuccess(contacts) {
    for (var i=0; i<contacts.length; i++) {
        alert(contacts[i].displayName);
    }
};

// error callback
function onError(contactError) {
    alert('onError!');
};

// specify contact search criteria
var options = new ContactFindOptions();
    options.filter="";        // empty search string returns all contacts
    options.multiple=true;    // return multiple results
    filter = ["displayName"]; // return contact.displayName field

    // find contacts
navigator.contacts.find(filter, onSuccess, onError, options);

Full Example 

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Contact Example</title>

    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="cordova-x.x.x.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">

    // Wait for device API libraries to load
    //
    document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);

    // device APIs are available
    //
    function onDeviceReady() {
        // specify contact search criteria
        var options = new ContactFindOptions();
        options.filter = "";      // empty search string returns all contacts
        options.multiple = true;  // return multiple results
        filter = ["displayName"]; // return contact.displayName field

        // find contacts
        navigator.contacts.find(filter, onSuccess, onError, options);
    }

    // onSuccess: Get a snapshot of the current contacts
    //
    function onSuccess(contacts) {
        for (var i=0; i<contacts.length; i++) {
            alert(contacts[i].displayName);
        }
    };

    // onError: Failed to get the contacts
    //
    function onError(contactError) {
        alert('onError!');
    }

    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Example</h1>
    <p>Find Contacts</p>
  </body>
</html>

ContactName

Contains different kinds of information about a Contact object's name.

Properties

Details

The ContactName object stores a contact's name properties.

Supported Platforms

Quick Example 

function onSuccess(contacts) {
    for (var i = 0; i < contacts.length; i++) {
        alert("Formatted: "  + contacts[i].name.formatted       + "\n" +
            "Family Name: "  + contacts[i].name.familyName      + "\n" +
            "Given Name: "   + contacts[i].name.givenName       + "\n" +
            "Middle Name: "  + contacts[i].name.middleName      + "\n" +
            "Suffix: "       + contacts[i].name.honorificSuffix + "\n" +
            "Prefix: "       + contacts[i].name.honorificSuffix);
    }
};

function onError(contactError) {
    alert('onError!');
};

var options = new ContactFindOptions();
options.filter = "";
filter = ["displayName", "name"];
navigator.contacts.find(filter, onSuccess, onError, options);

Full Example 

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Contact Example</title>

    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="cordova-x.x.x.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">

    // Wait for device API libraries to load
    //
    document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);

    // device APIs are available
    //
    function onDeviceReady() {
        var options = new ContactFindOptions();
        options.filter="";
        filter = ["displayName","name"];
        navigator.contacts.find(filter, onSuccess, onError, options);
    }

    // onSuccess: Get a snapshot of the current contacts
    //
    function onSuccess(contacts) {
        for (var i = 0; i < contacts.length; i ++) {
            alert("Formatted: " + contacts[i].name.formatted       + "\n" +
                "Family Name: " + contacts[i].name.familyName      + "\n" +
                "Given Name: "  + contacts[i].name.givenName       + "\n" +
                "Middle Name: " + contacts[i].name.middleName      + "\n" +
                "Suffix: "      + contacts[i].name.honorificSuffix + "\n" +
                "Prefix: "      + contacts[i].name.honorificPrefix);
        }
    };

    // onError: Failed to get the contacts
    //
    function onError(contactError) {
        alert('onError!');
    }

    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Example</h1>
    <p>Find Contacts</p>
  </body>
</html>

Android Quirks

BlackBerry WebWorks (OS 5.0 and higher) Quirks

iOS Quirks

ContactOrganization

Contains a Contact object's organization properties.

Properties

Details

The ContactOrganization object stores a contact's organization properties. A Contact object stores one or more ContactOrganization objects in an array.

Supported Platforms

Quick Example 

function onSuccess(contacts) {
    for (var i = 0; i < contacts.length; i++) {
        for (var j = 0; j < contacts[i].organizations.length; j++) {
            alert("Pref: "      + contacts[i].organizations[j].pref       + "\n" +
                "Type: "        + contacts[i].organizations[j].type       + "\n" +
                "Name: "        + contacts[i].organizations[j].name       + "\n" +
                "Department: "  + contacts[i].organizations[j].department + "\n" +
                "Title: "       + contacts[i].organizations[j].title);
        }
    }
};

function onError(contactError) {
    alert('onError!');
};

var options = new ContactFindOptions();
options.filter = "";
filter = ["displayName", "organizations"];
navigator.contacts.find(filter, onSuccess, onError, options);

Full Example 

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Contact Example</title>

    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="cordova-x.x.x.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">

    // Wait for device API libraries to load
    //
    document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);

    // device APIs are available
    //
    function onDeviceReady() {
        var options = new ContactFindOptions();
        options.filter="";
        filter = ["displayName","organizations"];
        navigator.contacts.find(filter, onSuccess, onError, options);
    }

    // onSuccess: Get a snapshot of the current contacts
    //
    function onSuccess(contacts) {
        for (var i = 0; i < contacts.length; i++) {
            for (var j = 0; j < contacts[i].organizations.length; j++) {
                alert("Pref: "     + contacts[i].organizations[j].pref       + "\n" +
                    "Type: "       + contacts[i].organizations[j].type       + "\n" +
                    "Name: "       + contacts[i].organizations[j].name       + "\n" +
                    "Department: " + contacts[i].organizations[j].department + "\n" +
                    "Title: "      + contacts[i].organizations[j].title);
            }
        }
    };

    // onError: Failed to get the contacts
    //
    function onError(contactError) {
        alert('onError!');
    }

    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Example</h1>
    <p>Find Contacts</p>
  </body>
</html>

Android 2.X Quirks

BlackBerry WebWorks (OS 5.0 and higher) Quirks

iOS Quirks

ContactError

A ContactError object is passed to the contactError callback when an error occurs.

Properties

Constants

Description

The ContactError object is returned to the user through the contactError callback function when an error occurs.

contactSuccess

Success callback function that provides the Contact array resulting from a contacts.find operation.

function(contacts) {
    // Do something
}

Parameters

Example 

function contactSuccess(contacts) {
    for (var i=0; i<contacts.length; i++) {
        console.log("Display Name = " + contacts[i].displayName);
    }
}

contactError

Error callback function for contact functions.

function(error) {
    // Handle the error
}

contactFields

Required parameter for the contacts.find method, used to specify which fields should be included in the Contact objects resulting from a find operation.

["name", "phoneNumbers", "emails"]

contactFindOptions

Optional parameter of the contacts.find method, used to filter the contacts returned from the contacts database.

{
  filter: "",
  multiple: true,
};

Options