How to Customize Your Contact Photos in iOS 8

With the addition of the new app switcher in iOS 8,  your contacts are more prominent than ever. You can have easy access to your favorites, or see who your recent contacts have been. This is a very convenient feature, and I find myself using it often. However, in my opinion, it’s a lot more fun if your contacts have thumbnail photos, rather than the stock gray bubble with the contact’s initials inside of it. I love being able to choose my favorite pictures of my favorite people and have them appear when they contact me. I suppose it’s also useful if you have a hard time remembering who that guy Dustin is in your address book- now you don’t have to sweat it, you can be reminded with a picture! Check out the steps below to learn how to customize the ID photos for your contacts.

1. Open Contacts.

2. Select the contact you wish to add a photo to.

3. Tap “Edit.”

4. Tap “add photo”.

5. Choose either “Take Photo” (which opens your camera), or “Choose Photo” (which opens your photo albums).

6. Once you have the photo want, you’ll get a chance to edit the thumbnail version by moving it around or zooming in.

7. When you have the perfect thumbnail, tap “Choose”.

8. Tap “Done”.

Now your contact’s photo will show up anytime you access their information, when you receive calls from them, and in your favorites bar. You can also sync facebook with your phone to automatically import your friends’ profile pictures into their contact page. However, with the above method, you have the option of choosing any photo you like. But what do you think, fellow techies? Do you prefer to sync-up with facebook, or to do your thumbnail-ing individually?

For more iOS tips and tricks head to our iOS How To’s section.