I need an advanced Contacts system. Encrypted, Cloud, Shareable

[Clark_Johnson]

Please read and consider. There are NO iPhone apps that do this. Can Airtable be designed to perform this ?

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I would really like to have a new shareable, cloud-based, private , encrypted iPhone contacts app that has these major points of functionality.

1. Ability to share the app itself and its contacts
   a. Share the app to a family group
   b. Share the app to members of a club, or to specific employees
   c. Share its online, encrypted database of contacts to those in these groups
   d. This online contacts database would be completely separate, standalone from all the other contacts databases (Gmail, iCloud, etc).
   e. Possibly import from other Contacts to this contact database.
   f. While I personally would like a iPhone contacts app so that I can share people, companies, and facts to family members, I believe that many organizations would also desire this capability.

2. Security levels
   a. Each contact in the database would have a clearance or accessibility level.
   b. There would be several levels to access in the contacts database.
   c. Some users would have access to ALL the contacts.
   d. Others would access “Customers” only, others “Maintenance & Repair” only, others “Outside Accounting”, “Lawyer” etc, etc.

3. Notes and Documents could be shared
   a. In addition to having specific fields like Name, Phone, Address, etc, shared, the app could also share Notes and Documents of specific contacts.

The goal is to have a private, encrypted, cloud, shareable contacts list, accessible by an iPhone app. Users would be able to view some or all of the contacts, based on the user’s needs as determined by user’s clearance level for each contacts category.

Clark Johnson

[ScottWorld]

Sounds like you’re looking for Apple’s FileMaker. Contact me at ScottWorld.com and I’ll put you in touch with some developers that can create this app for you.

[Bill_French]

Hi @Clark_Johnson, and welcome to the community!

Clark_Johnson:

a private, encrypted, cloud, shareable contacts list, accessible by an iPhone app.

Square peg; round hole. But probably not for the reasons you think.

Does your business model for this app embrace a platform cost of $24/user/month? I suspect not. As such, you would be far better off developing a solution using a low-code platform like Adalo and Firebase (which is encrypted, etc).

But it’s risky to even entertain what I just said - there are many more business requirements questions that should be addressed before you put the implementation cart in front of the horse. For example - a basic question like -

Is this an enterprise app for internal users?

If so, you might investigate AppSheet. At $5/user and fully platform-independent mobile, laptop, and desktop capable, it’s a bargain.

[Clark_Johnson]

I do appreciate the replies of Bill French and ScottWorld. But I believe that I am “barking up the wrong tree”.

I do not wish to be a code-writer (if I’m using the correct term), nor do I wish to contract with one to write a specific application just for me. I honestly thought my needs would be more universal than just for me, and hopefully someone would say “Hey, this app (or customization) is pretty close to what you are looking for.” Looks like not.

So, I’ll probably wind up entering all of my information into an Excel spreadsheet. The information will then be available, but in a very crude format.

But if any software developer thinks “Hmm, I can write that app and place it on the App Store. Sounds like it could be used by many people, both private and business.”, that would be cool.

Again, thanks for the replies.

Clark

[Bill_French]

Clark_Johnson:

But I believe that I am “barking up the wrong tree”.

Ergo, square peg; round hole. :winking_face:

[Clark_Johnson]

No…

There are no wrong questions. Only wrong audiences.

Clark

[Arnaud_WAENDEND]

Hi Clark,

Surely not as advanced as you are expecting but if you look for a simple way to get your contacts on your iPhone and have them sync in real time, with possibility to create / edit, advanced search and (soon) caller identification, look at https://aircontact.app
You do not need any account, just your Airtable API key.

Take care,

Arnaud

[Clark_Johnson]

Arnaud,

Thanks. I’ll check it out.

Wait, I just tried to do that. I got a French version.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aircontact-app/id1553342596

Is this correct?

[Arnaud_WAENDEND]

Hi Clark!

That’s the right app but I think we messed something up it it appears in French! :slightly_smiling_face:

The app is a personal need that we decided to open to the outside world.
It is very recent (1 week old) so if everything is not perfect, let me know! :slightly_smiling_face:

You just need your API key and don’t need to subscribe.
We don’t collect any data.
You’ll be able to create / edit records and search.
The search is advanced so if you tag your contacts you’ll be able to search your tags (Influence, Family …).

Right now the caller identification doesn’t work and you won’t be able to edit linked records.

The idea is to keep your data and all its intelligence in Airtable but still be able to do stuff in a dedicated contact app.

Let me know if it is useful!

Take care,

Arnaud

[Arnaud_WAENDEND]

Clark,

We submitted this morning some big corrections including the fact that the app was always in French! :grinning_face_with_sweat:
Time to pass Apple filters and it will be OK!

Thanks again for your feedback!

Take care,

Arnaud