How can I share and manage a combined Contacts list with my spouse using Family Sharing on Apple devices?

I was an Apple employee back when .Mac came out so have a .Mac email address. I bought content using that a single AppleID over the years - and that was fine until you added Health and other features that now assume individual AppleIDs. Your design of FamilySharing is a huge mess and Contacts is the worst.


My wife and I have combined Contacts of nearly 900 individuals and businesses. We use Contact Groups to categorize my friends / colleagues vs hers - but most contacts refer to people/businesses we both know. Because FamilySharing doesn't support sharing Contacts we have been forced to used a single AppleID.


I've even considered setting up an LDAP server at home to store our contacts - and hope that Contacts apps would store a cache when disconnected. But do try that I need to use Directory Utility according to Configure LDAP directory access in Directory Utility on Mac - Apple Support

But my new M4 Mini doesn't have Directory Utility in the Utilities folder, nor is it in the App Store.

Uggh!


FamilySharing needs to have an architecture - that tracks how real families work. New members are added and share their Family's content. They become adults and leave - taking a copy of Contacts, etc. but disconnected from the Family. Same with divorce. And need to merge new family members in, such as blended family - with their calendar, contacts, etc.


Please fix this mess!




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Mac mini, macOS 15.4

Posted on Apr 2, 2025 12:38 PM

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Apr 2, 2025 1:16 PM in response to DCurbow

DCurbow wrote:

Please fix this mess!

This is a user-to-user forum. No one who participates here can fix anything. Apple doesn't read here for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:


Product Feedback - Apple


Meanwhile, I believe you can share a contact account while having your phone signed into a different Apple ID. Go to Settings>Apps>Contacts>Add account.


You may also find this article useful:


How to “unshare” an Apple ID - Apple Community


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How can I share and manage a combined Contacts list with my spouse using Family Sharing on Apple devices?

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