How to Add Someone to Favorites on Your iPhone for One-Tap Calling

Remember the speed-dial buttons on the kitchen phone? You could press "2" and it would ring your daughter, or "3" for the pharmacy. No dialing, no looking up numbers — just one button.

Your iPhone has the same idea. It's called Favorites, and once you set it up, calling the people you talk to most takes a single tap. Here's how to add someone.

Open the Phone App and Find Favorites

Look for the green square with a white telephone on it — that's the Phone app. Tap it once.

Along the bottom of the screen, you'll see a row of small words: Favorites, Recents, Contacts, Keypad, Voicemail. Tap Favorites on the far left. If you've never used it, this list will be mostly empty.

Add a Person to the List

Near the top-left of the Favorites screen, you'll see a blue + sign. Tap it.

Your contacts list will pop up. Scroll until you see the name of the person you want — say, your son David — and tap their name.

Now the iPhone asks a small question: how do you want to reach this person? You'll see choices like Call, Text Message, FaceTime Audio, and FaceTime Video. For a regular phone call, tap Call.

If David has more than one phone number saved (a home and a cell, for instance), the iPhone will ask which one. Pick the one you use most — probably his cell. That's it. He's now in your Favorites.

How to Actually Use It

From now on, when you want to call David, here's the whole process:

Open the Phone app. Tap Favorites at the bottom. Tap David's name. The phone starts ringing him right away — no scrolling, no searching.

You can add up to a small handful of favorites, or a long list. Most folks find that four or five is plenty: a couple of children, a close friend, and the doctor's office.

A Little Tip for Rearranging

If you want your most-called person at the very top of the list, you can move names around. On the Favorites screen, tap Edit in the top-right corner. You'll see three little gray lines to the right of each name. Press and hold those lines, then drag the name up or down. Tap Done when you're finished.

To remove someone, tap Edit, then tap the red circle to the left of their name, then tap Delete. The person stays in your contacts — they just come off the Favorites list.

Try This Today

Think of the one person you call most often — a child, a sibling, a good friend. Add them to Favorites right now, following the steps above. The next time you want to hear their voice, it'll take exactly three taps to get them on the line.

Need a hand with your technology? We're here to help. Give PorchSwing a call or book an appointment, and we'll walk you through it at your own pace — no rush, no jargon.