iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, Second Edition

Address Book Settings

Once you get your contacts on the iPod, you can sort them in either of two ways. To change the order in which your contacts appear on the iPod screen, choose Settings→Contacts using the iPod’s menus. You’ll see settings for Sort and Display.

• Alphabetically by last name: Choose the Sort→Last, First option, which lists the entries like this: Simpson, Bart.

  Tip

  Be sure to select the same sorting style for the Display option. Otherwise, your list will have all the last names listed first, but be alphabetized by first name, making the whole thing look profoundly confused.

• Alphabetically by first name: If you prefer to see the names of your contacts listed like this—Bart Simpson—then select the sorting setting of “First, Last” for the Display option.

  The beauty part is that even if you choose this option, the contacts can still be alphabetized by last name. Just select “First, Last” for your Display setting and “Last, First” for the Sort setting.

  If you prefer the first-name basis approach, you can pick “First, Last” for both the Display and Sort options. This will alphabetize and list all your contacts by the first letter of the first name, which means Bart Simpson will come before Ned Flanders in your contacts list.

Note

If you’re using shareware that pulls down news headlines (Chapter 9) or other data that it stores in the Contacts area of the iPod, you’ll probably see all that stuff listed at the very top of your address list. Most programs throw in an asterisk to ...