Facetime interface after ios 9 install

[Bramsley]

Hi there,

Yesterday we updated our iPad 2 to ios 9 and for most things it seems to be running ok, but we have noticed some changes with Facetime. Namely the list of contacts, which has changed to the left hand side of the page, which no longer has options for favourites, most recents etc and only shows phone numbers or e-mails rather than contacts names in the default view.

Is it possible to edit this list so that it will show contact names please.

Thank you,

 

[scifan57]

Hi there,

Yesterday we updated our iPad 2 to ios 9 and for most things it seems to be running ok, but we have noticed some changes with Facetime. Namely the list of contacts, which has changed to the left hand side of the page, which no longer has options for favourites, most recents etc and only shows phone numbers or e-mails rather than contacts names in the default view.

Is it possible to edit this list so that it will show contact names please.

Thank you,

TheFaceTime app on my iPad 2 on iOS 9 shows the contact names and phone numbers. Tapping the information button at the right side of each contact reveals all the contact info. There's no favourites, though.

 

[Bramsley]

Hi Scifan57.

I've posted a couple of images to show you what I mean as we don't seem to be getting the same as you.

The first image is of the default screen we get when we open Facetime. (Personal info smudged out, but hopefully you get the idea.) .

It has numbers but no names. If I click on the info button to the side, I just get an expanded form of the same - see second image.

I can get to a list of contacts by doing a search or clicking on the Add symbol, but the names never show up in the 'default' view and involves quite a few 'clicks' before we get to make a call.

Isn't there anyway we can open up Facetime and have it show the names of our Facetime contacts so that we can make a call straight away

Thank you

 

[twerppoet]

Double check your Contacts and make sure the numbers listed are included in that person's contact information. This is where FaceTime gets it's names and pictures. When there is only a number, it is usually because Contacts has no information on who that number belongs to.

See the the "Create new Contact" and "Add to Existing Contact" option in your second screen shot? This is a quick way to add those numbers to your Contacts. If you think you already have a contact for that person, try the "Add to. . ." options. If it turns out you don't, the back out and use the "Create New Contact" option.

 

[scifan57]

Most of my contacts have not had a name added, but if I go into my contacts list and manually add the name to a contact it will show in the default view when I open the FaceTime app.

 

[Bramsley]

Thanks again Scifan57.

I have checked the contacts against the numbers list and although one of the numbers appears to be redundant, 3 of the 4 listed in the 'default' view are there in Contacts, with names and either e-mail or phone numbers. I tried adding my own iphone again by using the ADD button, and entering my details, with the result that there are two duplicate entries for me in the Contacts list. I also tried merging numbers in the default view list with the contacts to which they related - even though the numbers were already there in the contact details. The merges all seemed to work but it made no difference to the list in the default view, and still didn't show the names when I pressed the info symbol.

One further problem has emerged since we upgraded - initially on trying to call the numbers on the list the minute we pressed a number there was a loud 'white noise' meaning we had to disconnect immediately. This has never happened before. I rebooted the ipad and the problem appeared to be fixed, but it has just happened again while trying to make a test call to my iphone. We disconnected and went to switch the ipad off and again the white noise. We have never had that at all from the ipad before upgrading.

Could the two problems be related? I hope you will be able to help me resolve these problems.

Many thanks,

(NB - in the past we have occasionally had a problem where the ipad did not ring out when someone was facetiming us, or when we could get no sound during a facetime call and have had to call back a few times to get sound. This has happened before we upgraded, but also again since we upgraded)
Thank you

 

[twerppoet]

I don't have any other good ideas, so I'm just going to suggest the next few things I might try.

First, go to Settings > iCloud and Settings > FaceTime and see if you are using the same Apple ID in both places. (assuming you are using iCloud for your Contacts). There is no reason why this should make a difference. It's just something to check, because it might.

You can try turning off Contacts in Settings > iCloud, discard/delete when prompted, opening the Contacts app to make sure they went away, then turning Contacts on a again. This will force the Contacts to re-load from iCloud; fixing (hopefully) any local errors in the Contacts database. It's not a bad idea to go to icloud.com on a computer first, and make sure the iCloud database is up to date.

You can also try signing out of, and back into FaceTime in Settings.

If it were me, I'd turn off Contacts and sign out of FaceTime both, reset the iPad (hold down home button and power button until the Apple logo appears), then turn them both back on after the iPad reboots. Kind of hard kick to the seat of the issue.

The sound issue sounds like a different problem, one that may be hardware related. The only way to be sure would be to do a clean restore of the iPad (don't restore from a backup), setting it up again from scratch, and waiting to see if the problem returns. If the problem does come back, then it strongly suggests an intermittent hardware issue.

That's a lot to do, so whether it's worth it depends on how much the issue is bothering you.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

 

[Bramsley]

Thanks twerppoet.

Sorry for the delay getting back to you but we have had guests for the weekend. I'll look at your suggestions this evening and get back to you.
Thanks again

 

[twerppoet]

No problem. Good luck.

 

[Bramsley]

Hi twerppoet.

Between myself and my son-in-law we've tried all the things you suggest. When I signed into the iCloud website I could see the contacts were out of sync. They are in sync again now, but when I signed back into Facetime, it still shows numbers instead of names.

There are 7 contacts in the Contacts folder, but only 3 listings showing in Facetime. What is more, even when I signed out of contacts and there were no contacts in the Contacts folder, Facetime still showed the same 3 numbers.

The 3 numbers visible relate to my daughter and son-in-law. So, using Facetime, I searched for my own name and Facetimed my own phone. However, when I ended the call my name/phone number was not in the list - just the same 3 numbers. It's as though the numbers showing in Facetime are not connected to those in Contacts. Is there no way of clearing/refreshing the names out of Facetime? If not we may just have to live with it.

Thank you for all your help.

 

[Bramsley]

A little further messing about with merging contacts in Facetime has resulted in one of the numbers being correctly replaced by the contact name. However, I cannot get it to change for the other two, which use phone numbers. I have deleted them from the contacts list for now, though they are still there in the Facetime list. Perhaps if I can clear those off and reset the contact again, it might show the names properly. I'll keep trying.

Thank you again for your help.

 

[twerppoet]

You can remove numbers from the list in FaceTime by swiping right to left on them, then tapping the Delete button that appears. It can be tricking to do this without accidentally making a call, so you can also tap the Edit button at the top, tap the circle that appears to the left of each item, then tapping the Delete button that appears at the bottom of the list. The numbers should not re-appear until the next time you make, or receive a call from that person(s).

An old listing, before you re-loaded the Contact list, probably would not change until you received a new call

(Deleting items from the list this way does not delete them from Contacts.)

If that does not work, and since you managed to add a new contact, and it worked, I would recommend deleting the old (non-working) contacts from the Contacts app, and adding them again. It's possible some minor glitch in the Contact database is causing those numbers to not match up in searches. re-adding them from scratch has a good chance of fixing this.

Luckily it sounds like you only need to add a few.

Also, I wonder what would happen if a number was entered under multiple contact entries; say you had a separate contact entrees for a married couple, but had the same phone number listed in each contact. That confusion might stop FaceTime from picking a name.

Anyway, I don't have enough people that I can FaceTime to do any testing myself.

Good luck.

 

[Bramsley]

Thanks twerppoet.

I have deleted the old numbers from the facetime list, but it took a little messing around, using new and old contacts, deleting adding merging contacts, sending calls. receiving calls etc before I could get Facetime to display names instead of numbers. (Most of the time working with the ipad and either my iphone or calling my daughter who was very understanding). In the end, it was only those contacts that used e-mail as their Facetime address that I could get to show names. I don't know why that should be, but at least I now have names in the Facetime list as I wanted.

As for the sound problem - it's been fine since last Thursday, so I'll leave it for now and keep my fingers crossed.

Thank you very much for all your help.

 

[twerppoet]

You're welcome.

It is strange that only email address calls are working as expected. When you go to Settings > FaceTime, is your iPhone's number shown (and checked) under both the "You Can Be Reached By FacetTime At" and the "Caller ID" lists?

 

[Bramsley]

My number is shown under both lists but is only checked under 'You can be reached by Facetime at'. (My email is shown and checked under both lists.)