Switching
A Shared Contacts for Gmail alternative for teams who aren’t only on Google
ContactsFlow, which used to be called Shared Contacts for Gmail, shares Google labels from inside Gmail. That works fine until someone on the team lives in Outlook or on an iPhone. ContactsPlus treats all three the same.
At a glance
Shared Contacts for Gmail alternative: ContactsPlus reads from and writes back to Apple iCloud, Google and Microsoft equally, and gives the team one shared address book instead of copies of Google labels.
- No one account has to be the master copy
- Outlook and iPhone contacts are proper sources, not just somewhere a copy lands
- A shared address book with roles, shared notes and an owner per contact
- Free forever plan, so you can try it before you move the team
Why people move
When a Google-only hub stops working
Someone on the team uses Outlook
Shared Google labels can be pushed out to Outlook, but Outlook never becomes a source. Anything that person fixes is stuck on their side.
Half the team works from a phone
iPhone contacts aren’t covered at all. So the address book people actually use all day sits outside the whole thing.
You want one record, not copies
Copies of labels breed. ContactsPlus takes the same person from different accounts and makes them one record that everyone sees.
The work lives elsewhere
Follow-ups, documents and dated notes belong on the contact itself. ContactsPlus keeps them there and shares them with the team.
Moving over
How to switch, step by step
Your contacts are already in Google, so this is mostly just reconnecting them.
1. Export as a backup
Take a CSV or vCard copy out first. It costs nothing and means you can change your mind.
2. Connect the same Google accounts
The contacts arrive with their labels intact, and you can filter and re-tag them from there.
3. Add Outlook and iCloud
Connect the Microsoft and iCloud accounts the rest of the team uses. Every one of them gets read from and written back to.
4. Set up the shared address book
Set up one shared address book on Teams, decide who can do what, and everyone works from the same list.
Nothing gets taken out of Google. ContactsPlus syncs with it, alongside Microsoft and Apple, and Gmail carries on exactly as before.
What you gain
Four things you get on the other side
A clean list is just the start. These four are what actually save you time afterwards.
Email signatures, read for you
ContactsPlus reads the signature at the bottom of emails you already get, and fills in the job title, company and direct line for you. Nothing to copy, nothing to type. The records just get better while you work. Premium and Teams.
Tasks that reach your calendar
Give a follow-up a date and time and it turns up in your calendar, whether that’s Google, Outlook or Apple. Snooze it, cut a long list down to just today, and get a morning email of what’s due.
Team tasks, with real permissions
Put a task in a shared address book and the whole team can see it. Hand it to a colleague, decide who’s allowed to touch it, and see who finished it and when. Everyone works off one list instead of chasing each other. Teams.
One document, many contacts
Attach a contract, proposal or scan to the person it belongs to, and to everyone else involved. One file can sit on as many contacts as you want. It’s stored once and only counts once against your storage, no matter how many people it’s on. On every plan.
Your data
What comes across, and what to check
Comes across cleanly
Names, every phone number and email address, postal addresses, company and job title, photos, birthdays, notes, websites and social profiles. Custom fields stay custom fields. They don’t get squashed into a note.
Worth a look afterwards
Who could see what. The labels themselves come across fine, but the sharing doesn’t, so set up the shared address book and its roles at the start. If a colleague put something only in a shared label, export it first.
Nothing is one-way
You can export the lot as CSV or vCard whenever you want, on any plan, free included. Moving in shouldn’t trap you.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Is Shared Contacts for Gmail the same as ContactsFlow?
Yes. Shared Contacts for Gmail was renamed ContactsFlow. Same product, two names.
Do my team still get shared contacts?
Yes. A shared address book on Teams gives everyone the same list, with roles, shared notes and an owner for each contact. And it isn’t tied to Google labels.
What if some of the team use Outlook or an iPhone?
That’s the main reason people switch. ContactsPlus treats Apple iCloud, Google and Microsoft as equals, reading from and writing back to all three, instead of pushing copies of Google labels outward.
How do we move the shared labels across?
Connect the same Google accounts and the contacts come across with their labels. Set the sharing up once as a shared address book, and everyone works from that.
Does Gmail keep working the way it does now?
Yes. ContactsPlus syncs with your Google account, it doesn’t replace it. Gmail autocomplete and the contacts on your phone carry on exactly as before, while the shared address book does the team side.
Can we control who edits what?
Yes. A shared address book has roles, so you decide who can edit, who can only view, and who can invite. Each contact can have an owner, and shared notes and tasks show who did what and when.
One shared list. Every account.
Apple iCloud, Google and Microsoft, shared with the whole team. Free to start.
Try ContactsPlus free