Cobook Review

Attempting to replace the stock Contacts app is a pretty lofty ambition for any address book app. Not because Contacts is particularly impressive, it's quite barebones, but because other apps just seem to interfere too much. Cobook certainly doesn't do that. It takes moments to set up and is immediately practical.

Within seconds, the app happily points out that no contacts are overwritten and none of them are uploaded elsewhere. It's a reassuring mention for those of us who are rather protective of their information. Then, it's mostly a matter of 'it just works'. Syncing up with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, Cobook does most of the hard work.

At its best, the app allows users to tap on a name then gain plenty of knowledge about that person, all in one source. Phone numbers, website addresses, email, physical address, birthday, as well as social networking updates all feature in the one place. It's quick to browse and very useful when in a rush.

It doesn't always work that well. Some of the contacts I had, the app couldn't link up automatically with my other social networking contacts, usually because of a slight difference in their name. It's possible to manually set things up though, and it doesn't take much longer to implement.

Searching through an increasingly large contacts list is pretty easy, either through tapping on the relevant letter of the alphabet or by typing in part of their name. A form of favorites is available, too, allowing users to put the important people at the top of their list. Group functions are also possible.

Throughout, Cobook is easy to use. Its simple interface ensures that nothing feels complicated, even when manually merging. The only feature I'd have liked to have seen is the ability to mass remove a selection of people. I follow a lot of people on Twitter and I don't want them all on Cobook. While I can remove them individually, it'd take a while to manage in its current form.

Other than that, though, Cobook is a genuinely good quality replacement to the conventional Contacts app. At last.