Good afternoon Techstravaganza friends,
Today’s tutorial of adding email addresses and phone numbers to new or existing contacts was fantastic, have a listen to it at the following link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2SoHzK3k28d0y5C2qUTe8x
Show Notes
Main Tutorial: Adding an Email Address to Contacts from the Mail App (iPhone)
The primary workshop content. Siena demonstrated how to add a sender’s email address to iPhone contacts directly from the Mail app using VoiceOver.
- Details
- Siena: Demonstrated opening an email from Angelo Venditti, navigating to the From field, double-tapping twice to open the contact context menu, selecting “View Contact Card,” and then choosing “Create New Contact.” The first and last name were auto-populated from the email. She then labeled the email address as “Home” and saved the contact.
- Siena: Demonstrated the same process with Hugo Larson’s email, confirming that a single double-tap (without hold) also opens the contact menu.
- Ali: Pointed out that a single double-tap on the From field is sufficient — no need to double-tap and hold — to reach the same contact menu.
- Siena: Acknowledged this shortcut and noted she was unaware of it.
- Siena: Demonstrated adding an email to an existing contact (Ali Moosa / Aliasgar Moosa) by selecting “Add to Existing Contact,” searching for the contact, and saving.
- Siena: Also demonstrated editing an existing contact to remove an outdated email address (old work email for Ali).
- Ali: Noted that the process previously allowed direct access to “Add to Existing Contact” or “Create New Contact” without first going through “View Contact Card,” but this has since changed.
- Siena: Confirmed the current flow requires going to “View Contact Card” first.
- Liz: Asked whether tapping the From field places the email on the clipboard — Siena clarified it opens a context menu instead.
- Liz: Asked whether the first/last name and email address are auto-filled when creating a new contact — Siena confirmed they are auto-populated from the email metadata.
- Conclusion
- To add a sender’s email to contacts: open the email → navigate to the From field → double-tap (may need to do it twice) → select “View Contact Card” → choose “Create New Contact” or “Add to Existing Contact.”
- Name fields are auto-populated from the email.
- The email address is automatically placed in the correct field.
- No manual switching between apps is required for this process.
Copying an Email Address to Clipboard and Pasting Manually into Contacts
Siena demonstrated an alternative method: copying the email address from the From field and manually pasting it into a new or existing contact.
- Details
- Siena: Demonstrated double-tapping the From field to access the context menu, selecting “Copy Address” to place the email on the clipboard, then navigating to the Phone app’s Contacts, creating a new contact, navigating to the Add Email field, using the VoiceOver rotor (Edit → Paste swipe) to paste the address.
- Liz: Asked for clarification on how the email address gets into the email field — Siena explained the rotor-based paste method.
- Siena: Noted that “Copy Address” is the first option in the context menu when the From field is activated.
- Conclusion
- Alternative method: From field → double-tap → “Copy Address” → go to Contacts → Add Email field → VoiceOver rotor → Edit → swipe to Paste → double-tap to paste.
- This method is useful when the user prefers to manually control where the address is placed.
Gmail App vs. Native Mail App for Adding Contacts
Ali raised the question of whether there are advantages to using the native Mail app over the Gmail app, specifically for adding contacts.
- Details
- Ali: Asked whether there are reasons to use the native Mail app rather than the Gmail app, noting the contact-adding feature as a potential advantage.
- Siena: Confirmed the native Mail app makes it easy to add contacts directly from an email.
- Ali: Noted that in the Gmail app, there is no direct way to add a contact from an email; replying and saving a draft is a workaround, or using Gmail on the web.
- Siena: Agreed and suggested exploring the Gmail app in a future session to see if any method exists.
- Ali: Noted that Google does not have a standalone Google Contacts app on iOS.
- Siena: Mentioned that on Android, contacts may sync from Google on the web, and that each Android manufacturer may have its own Contacts app.
- Ali: Expressed interest in researching how contact management works on a Google Pixel device specifically.
- Conclusion
- The native iOS Mail app has a clear advantage over the Gmail app for adding contacts directly from emails.
- No direct method exists in the Gmail iOS app to add a contact from an email without using Gmail Web.
- Further research on Android/Pixel contact management was noted as a follow-up item.
Tutorial: Adding a Phone Number from an Email to Contacts (iPhone)
Siena demonstrated how to copy a phone number that appears as a link in an email and add it to a contact.
- Details
- Siena: Composed and sent herself a test email containing her own phone number (with hyphens: to demonstrate the process.
- Siena: Demonstrated that a single double-tap on a linked phone number in Mail only offers “Call” or “Cancel.” A double-tap-and-hold is required to access the full context menu (Call, WhatsApp, Video, Message, Email, Copy).
- Siena: Selected “Copy” to place the phone number on the clipboard, then navigated to Contacts, created a new contact, went to the Add Phone field (defaulting to Mobile label), used the VoiceOver rotor (Edit → Paste) to paste the number, and saved.
- Siena: Sent a second test email with the phone number without hyphens to test whether iOS auto-formats the number.
- Siena: Confirmed that when pasting a number without hyphens, iOS automatically detected it as a North American number and inserted the hyphens correctly.
- Liz: Confirmed she observed the auto-formatting behavior.
- Siena: Noted that for international numbers, adding the contact via WhatsApp allows country selection, which helps with correct formatting.
- Conclusion
- To copy a phone number from an email: double-tap-and-hold the linked number → select “Copy.”
- Paste into the Phone field in Contacts using the VoiceOver rotor (Edit → Paste).
- iOS automatically formats North American numbers with hyphens even if pasted without them.
- International numbers are better handled via WhatsApp’s contact-adding feature, which allows country code selection.
Navigating Back to the Inbox After Being Redirected to Another App or Website
Liz raised a question about difficulty returning to the Mail inbox after clicking a link that opens Zoom or a website.
- Details
- Liz: Described the issue of being stuck on a Zoom page or website after clicking a link in Mail, and that closing the app from the app switcher does not always resolve it.
- Siena: Suggested using the two-finger scrub VoiceOver gesture (scrubbing back and forth) to navigate back.
- Liz: Was unfamiliar with the two-finger scrub gesture.
- Siena: Explained the gesture: two fingers scrubbing back and forth on the screen.
- Siena: Also noted that a Close button is usually present but not always, depending on the app.
- Liz: Asked about closing Safari tabs when a link opens a webpage.
- Siena: Explained that on iPhone, the Show Tabs button is at the bottom of Safari; from there, the user can swipe up or down to find the Close option for the tab. On iPad, it is closer to the top.
- Liz: Noted that rebooting the device is her current fallback.
- Siena: Confirmed rebooting works and offered to set up a one-on-one session to help further.
- Conclusion
- Two-finger scrub gesture can navigate back from a redirected app or page.
- Safari tabs can be closed via the Show Tabs button (bottom of screen on iPhone).
- Rebooting remains a valid last resort.
- Siena offered a one-on-one follow-up session with Liz.
Workshop Recording and Podcast Availability
Ali and Siena informed participants that workshops are recorded and available as podcasts, with a YouTube channel planned.
- Details
- Ali: Reminded participants that workshops are podcasted and encouraged those who missed the live session to listen to the recording.
- Ali: Announced that a YouTube channel for the workshops is also being planned.
- Siena: Confirmed recordings are published the same evening.
- Conclusion
- All Techstravaganza workshops are recorded and available as podcasts.
- A YouTube channel is in development for future availability.
Decision to Continue Using Zoom (Not Switch to Google Meet)
A brief discussion confirmed the group’s decision to remain on Zoom for the main workshops.
- Details
- Siena: Explained that there was significant hesitation and concern from participants about switching to Google Meet for the main workshops.
- Jeroo: Expressed a personal preference for Zoom.
- Siena: Confirmed the decision to stay with Zoom, acknowledging that Google Meet has made improvements but Zoom remains the better fit for the group.
- Conclusion
- Techstravaganza workshops will continue to be hosted on Zoom.
- No platform migration is planned.
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