Add contact without using “Google account”?

Question

When I got my phone, I imported my old contacts by writing a small program that uses the contacts API. That worked great, and all my contacts were stored locally on the phone (sync with Google is turned off). Now I need to add a new contact manually through the standard contacts menu. I only get the option to add the new contact to my "Google account", there's no choice for local storage. All the contacts i batch-added with my program are correctly listed as "phone only, unsynced contact", and this is what I'd like to happen also with new contacts I add from the standard contacts menu as well.

I'm aware of this question, but there are no storage settings at all in the contacts settings menu described in that question's answer.

What do I do to add new contacts to the local storage? I could of course use the program I wrote, but that seems a bit cumbersome in the long run, and surely there must be a way to do this through the menus?

I'm running stock Android 4.0.2 on a Galaxy Nexus.

Answer 1

There may be a better work-around for this problem, but I just tried this:

• Make sure you have all your contacts on a safe place outside your phone.

Create another (than your current) Google-Account, e.g. Locale.Phonebook@gmail.com.

• Add it to your phone. Make it the one that it used for new contacts by default.
• Delete the account on google again.

If you hadn't had any contacts in your normal google account you are done. Just make sure that your syncing software uses the correct (new) account.

If you had contacts in your normal account, you'll have to transfer them from the normal Google-account to the special new account somehow.

I used the software My Phone Explorer (MPE) to do it, but it is tricky.

• First you need to set the folder/account used sync the contacts in the MPE-Client on the phone to the one still containing the contacts.
• Then sync. This will get the contacts over to the PC.
• On the PC copy ALL the contacts to clipboard. Also make a backup with MPE.
• Then delete all contacts on the PC (select one, then press Ctrl-A to select all, then delete).
• Then sync. This will delete the contacts from the (normal) google-account.

Now change the folder/account used to sync the contacts in the MPE-Client on the phone to the new one. Also change the folder/account where new contacts go into (to the new account).

• On the PC paste all contacts again into the application.
• Then sync again. This will create the contacts in the new account.

Now your contacts are stored in a Google-Account (which keeps your ICS/Jelly Bean Phone happy), but you are certain that the contacts cannot be accidentally synced with Google (which hopefully keeps you happy).

Why do they make us doing such things? I think who wants to keep his data private should be able to do so without using tricks.

Is someone out there able to program a new content-provider for contacts using a local store?

BTW: MPE is still able to store the contacts on the phone locally the way it worked before ICS when you sync with your PC. However the problem is, that on the phone you cannot add a new contact to this local store, it is just not being displayed when your are asked where to store the new contact.

Pitfall: Occasionally you will see a message, that there is a login-problem with the deleted account. Instead of being angry about that, you can be happy because it shows you that you just have successfully prevented data-leakage from your phone to google ;-)

Answer 2

Since ICS, Google stopped allowing you to store contacts locally.

Some manufacturers add this manually to their own ROM's.

You now have to sync it to a type of account.

Answer 3

For all those that came here still looking for the answer:

Settings -> Apps -> All, then disable Google Contacts Synchronisation

Answer 4

You can use the "Local Calendar" from the Android FOSS Repository under http://f-droid.org/

Direct link: http://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=local%20calendar&fdid=org.sufficientlysecure.localcalendar

I am using it without any problems on my phone. Android FOSS Repository