Clickbait Warning: You DON'T need to disable Name Drop

There has been a rash of articles and social media posts lately warning people to disable Name Drop, one of the cool features of iOS 17 that allows you to easily exchange contact information with someone you just met. The posts suggest that this feature could be used to steal your contact information from unsuspecting people simply by touching their iPhone to yours.

This is fearmongering and absolutely not how the feature works. The Washington Post, Snopes, and others agree. When two unlocked iPhones with iOS 17 touch (or get very close) for about three to five seconds, something appears on both iPhone screens asking if you want to share your contact info with the other iPhone, and you can choose what contact information you wish to share. Or you can tap the button to only receive their info.

There are several reasons this can't be used unexpectedly:

• Both iPhones must be unlocked, so it won't work if someone simply bumps into you.
• The iPhone vibrates and the screen shimmers for a few moments, warning the user that it's about to ask.
• You must tap the "Share" button, or you can swipe up or press the Home button to get out.
• Remember phone books? We used to put most of this information in a giant book for entire cities and give it to everyone.

So how do you use Name Drop?

1. First, you should make sure that your iPhone has your correct information. In your Contacts app (or in the Phone app under the Contacts tab) scroll to the top and you should see your name. Tap it to see the details and tap "Edit" to make any corrections. You will select the information to be shared later, so you don't need to remove anything you don't want to be shared. If you do not see your name at the top, you will need to go to the Settings app > Contacts > My Info, then select your name from your address book. If you are not in your own address book, tap the "New Contact" button at the top of your list.
2. Hold the top of two iPhones near each other. When your iPhones start shimmering and vibrating it's beginning to work. This also works with iPhone and Apple Watch. iPhones need to be running at least iOS 17.1 and Apple Watch series 7 and later must be running at least watchOS 10.1. It can work between Apple Watches, but one person must go into the Contacts app, tap their name, and then choose "Share".
3. You can modify the information that gets shared by tapping the info below your name. Perhaps you only want to share your work info or only your personal info. That little tag will either show you icons for all of the various information that will get shared, or if it's only one piece of information it will show you that. The next time you do Name Drop the same information is selected so you don't need to reselect unless you want different information shared with a different person.
4. You can tap "Share" to send the selected information to their address book, tap "Receive Only" to receive their information without sending yours, or swipe up from the bottom, press the Home button, or lock your iPhone with the side button to cancel.

Name Drop clearly asks if you wish to share your information.

I admit, there are a couple of things Apple could do to make this feature better and safer. First, I would love to see a "Decline" button. I also wish the screen showed all of the information that was about to be sent.

But what if you still want to disable Name Drop? The only reason I could see would be if you have a work iPhone and a personal iPhone, and you keep accidentally invoking it by having both phones together. If this becomes a problem you can disable it in Settings > General > AirDrop, then disable "Start Sharing by Bringing Devices Together". This will also disable a new feature that allows you to AirDrop items such as photos to people not in your address book in a similar manner.

Featured image by Apple, Inc.