We use Fastmail as our primary contact system. Each family member has a Fastmail account, and contacts sync to all Apple devices via CardDAV.
Primary Platform: Fastmail Contacts (via CardDAV)
Family Accounts:
| Person | Fastmail | Apple ID |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew | dratspiker@fastmail.com | matt@speicherville.com |
| Kandace | kanaussie@fastmail.com | kanaussie@gmail.com |
| Violet | queenvi@fastmail.com | violet@speicherville.com |
Web Access: fastmail.com/contacts (log in with your Fastmail account)
Sync: Automatic via CardDAV to all Apple devices
Each family member has their own Fastmail account with contacts that sync to their Apple devices via CardDAV. Fastmail supports multiple addressbooks within an account, so contacts can be organized into separate books (e.g., personal vs. shared).
Matt's Fastmail account has two addressbooks:
Kandy and Violet each have their own Fastmail contact storage as part of the Family plan.
iCloud Contacts has been disabled on Matt's devices. iCloud accumulated a large number of spam entries over time, so we turned it off and moved to Fastmail as the clean, reliable source.
If you see iCloud Contacts still enabled on your device, check the Troubleshooting section below.
Matt's Google account (dratspiker@gmail.com) has a separate set of ~308 contacts. These are not synced to family devices — they are only used by Matt for personal reference via contacts.google.com.
Emergency service numbers, account PINs with contact names, and service provider contacts are stored in the Family vault in 1Password. These are not in the Contacts app — they're accessed via 1Password when needed.
Examples:
On iPhone:
On Mac:
On the Web:
Tap or click the contact, then tap Edit. Changes sync to all your devices within a few minutes via CardDAV.
iPhone: Open the contact → scroll down → Share Contact → choose Messages or Mail.
Each device needs the Fastmail CardDAV account configured to sync contacts. This is already set up on all family devices.
| Account | Contacts |
|---|---|
| Fastmail CardDAV (your @fastmail.com) | ON |
| iCloud | OFF |
| Google (if present) | OFF |
iPhone/iPad:
Mac:
This usually means iCloud Contacts is still enabled on your device. iCloud had accumulated spam entries.
Fix: Go to Settings → [your name] → iCloud and turn Contacts OFF. Your clean Fastmail contacts will remain.