Connect your Contacts to Revere (+FAQ)
Today, Revere is launching contact support. You can now connect your contacts, so you don't have to manually add each person.
Grant Revere access to your contacts and their information shows up right in the app. This lets you access your contacts inline as you create notes, reminders, or anything else in Revere. You can also access their contact details, like emails and phone numbers, and reach out to them right from the app.
Your contact details stay completely private too. Revere does not see, upload, or sync anything. They stay on your device. We think of it not as "importing” your contacts, but rather "connecting” to them.
We've also designed the feature to ensure your most important relationships remain the focus without cluttering the app. In your main people list, you can show everyone in your contacts or just those you've added notes for in Revere. This stays true to Revere's founding purpose of being about your most important relationships, not a contact manager.
This is just the start. Making adding people easier solves one of the big hurdles in getting started with Revere, and it's part of a larger set of projects to make getting all details (like notes, reminders, and others) into Revere much easier.
FAQ
Q: At a high level, how does Revere work with my contacts?
A: When you give Revere access to your contacts, it shows them in the app on your phone. If the person matches in Revere, it adds a button that lets you see their contact information to easily reach out. If it doesn't, it shows them in your list of people and allows you to add them with one button tap.
Q: Are my contact details, like phone numbers and emails, kept private?
A: Yes, your contacts are always stored on the device. Revere only looks at them. It never uploads them to the cloud. When you add a contact to Revere, it uploads only their name, notes, reminders, etc. that you add in the future. Contact info like emails and phone numbers are never uploaded. They always stay on the device.
Q: Can Revere edit my contacts?
A: No, Revere cannot modify your contacts in any way. It only reads them.
Q: Do changes in Revere sync with my contacts?
A: It only receives information from your contacts. Revere does not send information back. So if you change a phone number, for example, that change will reflect in Revere. Note: Changing a contact's name will break the link to Revere unless you also update that contact’s name in Revere.
Q: Why doesn't Revere sync with my contacts?
A: People's contacts are one of the most important collections of data on their phones. We don't want to take any chances in messing it up, so we made sure not to enable that capability in Revere.
Q: If I update details, like phone numbers in my Contacts app, will they show in Revere?
A: Yes, Revere will see changes made in your contacts and pick them up automatically.
Q: How are contacts on my phone matched with people in Revere?
A: Revere compares the names and if they match makes the connection. That means if you have multiple people with the same name in your contacts, they may not match the way you want in Revere.
Q: If a contact doesn't match automatically, can I match them manually?
A: Yes, you can edit the name of the person in your contacts app or in Revere. Revere will see those changes and check for matches.
Q: Why don't some contacts in Revere show?
A: Contacts that don't have a name are ignored by Revere. For example, it's possible to create a contact with only a phone number – that one won't show in Revere.
Q: What if I have different contacts on different devices?
A: Because Revere only knows the contacts on your device, if you provided different permissions on different devices, your people lists in Revere will look different. However, the people added to Revere (those with details, notes, etc.) will be the same on every device.
Q: How do I remove contacts from Revere?
A: To remove contacts from showing in Revere, simply change the permissions. You can do this from Revere's settings or your device settings.
Q: Can I prevent certain contacts from showing in Revere?
A: Yes. In iOS 18, there is a permission level called "Limited" where you can choose specific people in your contacts app that Revere can see.
Q: What happens if I revoke contacts permissions from Revere entirely?
A: Revere gracefully falls back to just showing people you've added to Revere. Note: Without permissions Revere can’t display contact details like emails or phone numbers anymore.
Q: I see a button to "Refresh contacts" in Settings. What does this do?
A: This simply re-updates Revere's view of your contacts. You shouldn't need to use it, but if you notice something is different between contact info in the Contacts app and what shows in Revere, this will fix it.
