Android bring your own device to work - how best to handle contacts?

[1adam]

My employer is allowing Android "bring your own device" and I want to use my Google Pixel 2. I will manage my work e-mail in the dedicated Microsoft Outlook application and personal within Gmail as normal.

However, I don't want all of the work contacts that I save to be merged into my personal contact list.

Is there an app or a trick to best manage this?

 

[hallux]

I'm not familiar with the Outlook app, does it support access to your work contacts within the app? If so, there shouldn't be much of an issue as it's all contained in the app.

 

[Centerman66]

If you have a contact app that can handle multiple exchange accounts you can sync both contact databases and look at one or the other or both at the same time. I use BlackBerry Contacts. It does this.

 

[1adam]

@hallux No it doesn't have a native contact list within the Android Outlook app. Moreover we use WhatsApp a lot so ideally need to still have the contact pulling there like my personal ones do.
@Centerman66 I'll try BlackBerry contacts it looks promising, but does it need to be an exchange account? It pulled my Gmail instantly but seems to need another email to associate another account. I don't think I can add my corporate email this way for security reasons. Need a workaround to manage contacts I add manually to a different group.

 

[hallux]

The Google-provided Contacts app allows you to view your contacts based on account - just swipe in from the left and choose the account to view. Unless you specifically "link" contacts or view all accounts there should be no crossover and in the case of viewing all accounts that's in view only, they still don't merge...

 

[1adam]

@hallux so would the solution mean creating a second/dummy Gmail account to house the contacts?

 

[Centerman66]

You don't want to dabble with BlackBerry Contacts unless you want the whole BlackBerry productivity Suite (Hub, contacts, and calendar).

 

[chanchan05]

I'd look into the Outlook app in your case. It can be set to use a different account anyway, so your phone contacts will be in the phone's own contacts app, and your Outlook contacts will be in the Outlook app.