Programmatically Request Access to Contacts

Question

Since updating to iOS 6 I've noticed that my code to add a contact to iPhone's address book no longer works. I believe this is a permission related problem, since Apple now requires user permission before accessing contacts (fixing this issue).

I expected the app to automatically ask permission to access contacts, like in the screenshot below, but it doesn't. Trying to add the contact just fails with ABAddressBookErrorDomain error 1.

Do I need to programmatically launch the access to contacts request dialog? How is that done?

Answer 1

That did the perfect trick for me!

On iOS6, apple introduce new privacy control, user can control the accessment of contact and calender by each app. So, in the code side, you need to add some way to request the permission. In iOS5 or before, we can always call

ABAddressBookRef addressBook = ABAddressBookCreate();

to get the addressbook without any problem, but in iOS6, if you don't have permission, this call will just return empty pointer. That why we need to change the method to get ABAddressBookRef.

__block BOOL accessGranted = NO;
if (ABAddressBookRequestAccessWithCompletion != NULL) { // we're on iOS 6
    dispatch_semaphore_t sema = dispatch_semaphore_create(0);
    ABAddressBookRequestAccessWithCompletion(addressBook, ^(bool granted, CFErrorRef error) {
        accessGranted = granted;
        dispatch_semaphore_signal(sema);
    });
    dispatch_semaphore_wait(sema, DISPATCH_TIME_FOREVER);
    dispatch_release(sema);   
}
else { // we're on iOS 5 or older
    accessGranted = YES;
}

if (accessGranted) {
    // Do whatever you want here.
}

In the code,semaphore is used for blocking until response, while ABAddressBookRequestAccessWithCompletion will ask for permission if the app didn't ask before. Otherwise it will just follow the settings in Settings-Privacy-Contact.

SOURCE: http://programmerjoe.blogspot.com/2012/10/ios6-permissions-contacts.html

Answer 2

As per this documentation on apple's site (scroll down to Privacy in the middle of the page), access to the address book must be granted before it can be access programmatically. Here is what I ended up doing.

  #import <AddressBookUI/AddressBookUI.h>

  // Request authorization to Address Book
  ABAddressBookRef addressBookRef = ABAddressBookCreateWithOptions(NULL, NULL);

  if (ABAddressBookGetAuthorizationStatus() == kABAuthorizationStatusNotDetermined) {
    ABAddressBookRequestAccessWithCompletion(addressBookRef, ^(bool granted, CFErrorRef error) {
      if (granted) {
          // First time access has been granted, add the contact
          [self _addContactToAddressBook];
      } else {
          // User denied access
          // Display an alert telling user the contact could not be added
      }
    });
  }
  else if (ABAddressBookGetAuthorizationStatus() == kABAuthorizationStatusAuthorized) {
    // The user has previously given access, add the contact
    [self _addContactToAddressBook];
  }
  else {
    // The user has previously denied access
    // Send an alert telling user to change privacy setting in settings app
  }

Update For iOS 9 and later:

From Apple website :

Important

The Address Book UI framework is deprecated in iOS 9. Use the APIs defined in the ContactsUI framework instead. To learn more, see ContactsUI

Answer 3

This code shows how to set the permission and how to get all the contacts from the phone and show the contacts in the list with the label tag

var contactStore = CNContactStore()
var contactArray = [CNContact]()

func getContacts()
{

    if CNContactStore.authorizationStatus(for: .contacts) == .notDetermined
    {

        contactStore.requestAccess(for: .contacts, completionHandler: { (authorized:Bool, error:Error?) in

            if authorized {



                let requestForContacts = CNContactFetchRequest(keysToFetch: [CNContactFormatter.descriptorForRequiredKeys(for: CNContactFormatterStyle.fullName), CNContactPhoneNumbersKey as CNKeyDescriptor, CNContactImageDataKey as CNKeyDescriptor, CNContactNicknameKey as CNKeyDescriptor])
                do{
                    try self.contactStore.enumerateContacts(with: requestForContacts) { (contacts : CNContact, stop: UnsafeMutablePointer<ObjCBool>) -> Void in
                        self.contactArray.append(contacts)
                        //print("hello")
                    }
                }
                catch {
                    print("EXCEPTION COUGHT")
                }
            }
        })
    }
    else if CNContactStore.authorizationStatus(for: .contacts) == .authorized
    {
        let requestForContacts = CNContactFetchRequest(keysToFetch: [CNContactFormatter.descriptorForRequiredKeys(for: CNContactFormatterStyle.fullName), CNContactPhoneNumbersKey as CNKeyDescriptor, CNContactImageDataKey as CNKeyDescriptor, CNContactNicknameKey as CNKeyDescriptor])
        do{
            try self.contactStore.enumerateContacts(with: requestForContacts) { (contacts : CNContact, stop: UnsafeMutablePointer<ObjCBool>) -> Void in
                self.contactArray.append(contacts)
            }
        }
        catch {

        }

    }
}

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    // Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
    getContacts()

}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int
{
    //print(contactArray)
    return contactArray.count

}
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {

    let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "defaultCell")

    if cell != nil{

        //var dig = String()
        var hmdig = [String]()

        let names = contactArray[indexPath.row]
        print(names)

        let name1 = names.givenName+" "+names.middleName+" "+names.familyName

        for number in names.phoneNumbers
        {
            let phoneNumber = number.value

            let dig = (phoneNumber.value(forKey: "digits") as? String)!
            hmdig.append(dig)

        }

        // Set the contact image.
        if let imageData = names.imageData
        {
            let myImage = cell?.viewWithTag(30) as! UIImageView
            myImage.image = UIImage(data: imageData)
        }


//            let niknm = names.nickname

        let nameLable1 = cell?.viewWithTag(10) as! UILabel
                nameLable1.text = name1

        let nameLable2 = cell?.viewWithTag(20) as? UILabel

            nameLable2?.text = hmdig.joined(separator: ",\n")

//           let nameLable3 = cell?.viewWithTag(40) as? UILabel
//                nameLable3?.text = niknm


        return cell!

    }
    else{

        return UITableViewCell()
    }
}

Answer 4

- (void)viewDidLoad
{
    [super viewDidLoad];


    [self loadPhoneContacts];
}



-(void)loadPhoneContacts{

    ABAuthorizationStatus status = ABAddressBookGetAuthorizationStatus();

    if (status == kABAuthorizationStatusDenied) {
        // if you got here, user had previously denied/revoked permission for your
        // app to access the contacts, and all you can do is handle this gracefully,
        // perhaps telling the user that they have to go to settings to grant access
        // to contacts

        [[[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:nil message:@"This app requires access to your contacts to function properly. Please visit to the \"Privacy\" section in the iPhone Settings app." delegate:nil cancelButtonTitle:@"OK" otherButtonTitles:nil] show];
        return;
    }

    CFErrorRef error = NULL;
    ABAddressBookRef addressBook = ABAddressBookCreateWithOptions(NULL, &error);

    if (error) {
        NSLog(@"ABAddressBookCreateWithOptions error: %@", CFBridgingRelease(error));
        if (addressBook) CFRelease(addressBook);
        return;
    }

    if (status == kABAuthorizationStatusNotDetermined) {

        // present the user the UI that requests permission to contacts ...

        ABAddressBookRequestAccessWithCompletion(addressBook, ^(bool granted, CFErrorRef error) {
            if (error) {
                NSLog(@"ABAddressBookRequestAccessWithCompletion error: %@", CFBridgingRelease(error));
            }

            if (granted) {
                // if they gave you permission, then just carry on

                [self listPeopleInAddressBook:addressBook];
            } else {
                // however, if they didn't give you permission, handle it gracefully, for example...

                dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
                    // BTW, this is not on the main thread, so dispatch UI updates back to the main queue

                    [[[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:nil message:@"This app requires access to your contacts to function properly. Please visit to the \"Privacy\" section in the iPhone Settings app." delegate:nil cancelButtonTitle:@"OK" otherButtonTitles:nil] show];
                });
            }

            if (addressBook) CFRelease(addressBook);
        });

    } else if (status == kABAuthorizationStatusAuthorized) {
        [self listPeopleInAddressBook:addressBook];
        if (addressBook) CFRelease(addressBook);
    }
}

- (void)listPeopleInAddressBook:(ABAddressBookRef)addressBook
{
    NSInteger numberOfPeople = ABAddressBookGetPersonCount(addressBook);
    NSArray *allPeople = CFBridgingRelease(ABAddressBookCopyArrayOfAllPeople(addressBook));

    for (NSInteger i = 0; i < numberOfPeople; i++) {
        ABRecordRef person = (__bridge ABRecordRef)allPeople[i];

        NSString *firstName = CFBridgingRelease(ABRecordCopyValue(person, kABPersonFirstNameProperty));
        NSString *lastName  = CFBridgingRelease(ABRecordCopyValue(person, kABPersonLastNameProperty));
        NSLog(@"Name:%@ %@", firstName, lastName);

        ABMultiValueRef phoneNumbers = ABRecordCopyValue(person, kABPersonPhoneProperty);

        CFIndex numberOfPhoneNumbers = ABMultiValueGetCount(phoneNumbers);
        for (CFIndex i = 0; i < numberOfPhoneNumbers; i++) {
            NSString *phoneNumber = CFBridgingRelease(ABMultiValueCopyValueAtIndex(phoneNumbers, i));
            NSLog(@"  phone:%@", phoneNumber);
        }

        CFRelease(phoneNumbers);

        NSLog(@"=============================================");
    }
}

Answer 5

To get Addressbook in ios

- (void)retreiveAllContacts
{
ABAddressBookRef addressBook = ABAddressBookCreateWithOptions(NULL, NULL);

CFArrayRef people = ABAddressBookCopyArrayOfAllPeople(addressBook);

if (!people) {
    return ;
}

CFMutableArrayRef peopleMutable = CFArrayCreateMutableCopy(kCFAllocatorDefault,
                                                           CFArrayGetCount(people),
                                                           people);

CFArraySortValues(peopleMutable,
                  CFRangeMake(0, CFArrayGetCount(peopleMutable)),
                  (CFComparatorFunction) ABPersonComparePeopleByName,
                  (void*) ABPersonGetSortOrdering());

NSMutableArray *contacts = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithCapacity:CFArrayGetCount(peopleMutable)];

for (CFIndex i = 0; i < CFArrayGetCount(peopleMutable); i++)
{

    ABRecordRef person = CFArrayGetValueAtIndex(peopleMutable, i);

    int32_t recId  =  ABRecordGetRecordID(person);

    NSString * abId = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%d", recId];

    ABMultiValueRef phoneNumbers = ABRecordCopyValue(person, kABPersonPhoneProperty);

    ABMultiValueRef emailIds = ABRecordCopyValue(person, kABPersonEmailProperty);


    NSString* firstName = (__bridge NSString*)ABRecordCopyValue(person, kABPersonFirstNameProperty);

    NSString* lastName = (__bridge NSString*)ABRecordCopyValue(person, kABPersonLastNameProperty);

    NSString* companyName = (__bridge NSString*)ABRecordCopyValue(person, kABPersonOrganizationProperty);

    NSString* displayName = [firstName ? firstName : @"" stringByAppendingFormat:@" %@", lastName ? lastName : @""];

    displayName = [displayName stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:[NSCharacterSet characterSetWithCharactersInString:@" "]];


    NSMutableDictionary* contactInfo = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];

    if(ABPersonHasImageData(person))
    {
        CFDataRef imageDataRef = ABPersonCopyImageDataWithFormat(person, kABPersonImageFormatThumbnail);

        NSData * imageData = (__bridge NSData *)imageDataRef;

        UIImage * thumbImage = [UIImage imageWithData:imageData];

        [contactInfo setObject:thumbImage forKey:@"picture"];
    }

    if(!firstName)
        firstName = @"";

    if (!lastName)
        lastName = @"";

    if(!displayName)
        displayName = @"";

    if(!companyName)
        companyName = @"";

   // [contactInfo setObject:[firstName capitalizedString] forKey:kFirstNameKey];

    //[contactInfo setObject:[lastName capitalizedString] forKey:kLastNameKey];

    [contactInfo setObject:[displayName capitalizedString] forKey:@"name"];

    [contactInfo setObject:abId forKey:@"ABID"];


  //  [contactInfo setObject:companyName forKey:kCompanyNameKey];

    NSMutableArray* phoneNumbersList = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

    for (CFIndex j=0; j < ABMultiValueGetCount(phoneNumbers); j++)
    {
        NSString* phone = (__bridge NSString*)ABMultiValueCopyValueAtIndex(phoneNumbers, j);

        CFStringRef localizedLabel = ABMultiValueCopyLabelAtIndex(phoneNumbers,j);

      //  NSString *phoneLabel =(__bridge NSString*) ABAddressBookCopyLocalizedLabel(localizedLabel);


        if( phone)
        {
            //                NSLog(@"validatedPhone: %@", validatedPhone);


            [phoneNumbersList addObject:phone];
        }

        if (localizedLabel) {
            //                            NSLog(@"localizedLabel: %@", localizedLabel);
            CFRelease(localizedLabel);
        }
    }

    if(phoneNumbers)
    {
        //                        NSLog(@"phoneNumbers: %@", phoneNumbers);

        CFRelease(phoneNumbers);

        //            NSLog(@"phoneNumbers Release: %@", phoneNumbers);

    }

    [contactInfo setObject:phoneNumbersList forKey:@"phoneNumbers"];

    NSMutableArray * emailList = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

    for (CFIndex j=0; j < ABMultiValueGetCount(emailIds); j++)
    {
        NSString* email = (__bridge NSString*)ABMultiValueCopyValueAtIndex(emailIds, j);

        CFStringRef localizedLabel = ABMultiValueCopyLabelAtIndex(emailIds, j);


        if(email)
        {


            [emailList addObject:email];
        }

    }

    if(emailIds)
    {
        CFRelease(emailIds);

    }

    if(emailList && [emailList count])
        [contactInfo setObject:emailList forKey:@"emails"];

    if ([phoneNumbersList count] > 0 || [emailList count] > 0) {
        [contacts addObject:contactInfo];
    }
}

//CFRelease();
CFRelease(people);

if([contacts count])
{
    [self createiOSContactsDataSourceWithFeed:contacts];
}

}

Answer 6

If anyone have problem with addressBook in iOS5 then Use

ABAddressBookRef addressBook = ABAddressBookCreate(); 

Insted of

ABAddressBookRef addressBook = ABAddressBookCreateWithOptions(NULL,NULL);