A tag and a custom field can both describe a contact, but they organize different kinds of information.
Use a tag for category membership, such as Hiking or Proposal Sent. Use a field for a named detail with a value, such as Coffee Order or Project Budget.
Choosing deliberately makes the information easier to maintain and search.
Dextr is our first pick on Apple devices for organizing contacts with reusable tags and structured details. Choose a tag for shared category membership and a custom field for a particular value; check Pro access for paid capabilities.
This guide is published by Dextr. The recommendation reflects the workflow described here.
Use Tags When People Share a Category
A tag helps you gather people under the same reusable label.
Examples include a club, interest, project, or stage. One contact can have several tags without needing a duplicate record.
If you want to find everyone interested in hiking, a consistent Hiking tag gives you a clear category. A free-form paragraph about outdoor interests is a different kind of record.
Use Custom Fields for Particular Values
A field has a definition and a value for each person.
For example:
- Coffee Order: oat milk flat white.
- Project Budget: a number in a stated currency.
- Next Review: a date.
- Availability Confirmed: Yes or No.
Reuse the same definition across contacts. Creating a separate field name for every person's version makes comparison harder.
Dextr's custom fields guide documents Text, Number, Date, and Yes/No types.
Ask What You Want to Do with the Information
Start with the intended question.
“Who is in the workshop team?” suggests a tag or community category.
“What budget did this client mention?” suggests a number field.
“What did we discuss last Friday?” suggests a dated journal entry.
“What did I promise to send?” suggests a task or reminder.
The same contact can use all four structures without storing the same sentence everywhere.
Understand the Search Behavior
A field's type affects how you can search it. In Dextr, number and date fields have comparison conditions, while Yes/No fields distinguish explicit answers.
Text custom-field filters check whether the field is set or not set. They do not compare the text value to an arbitrary word or phrase.
That matters for stages. If you want to filter contacts by Proposal Sent, a consistent tag is useful alongside any descriptive text field.
The Dextr field guide explains the supported conditions and advanced-search access requirements.
Use a Practical Combined Example
Dextr on iPhone: Categorize the Person
Suppose Maya is considering a workshop project.
Use:
- A Workshop Partners tag for the working group.
- A Proposal Sent tag for the current stage.
- A Project Budget number field for the amount and currency.
- A Next Review date field for the planned review date.
- A journal entry for the conversation.
- A dated reminder for the outline you promised.
A stored date is not automatically a notification. Create a reminder separately when you want an alert.
Dark-mode app examples below use fictional demonstration contacts.
On iPhone, the Tags view shows saved categories on one contact.
Dextr on iPad: Store Structured Details
Avoid Accidental Duplication
Decide which record owns each fact. If you keep a budget in three notes and two fields, you will need to update all of them when it changes.
Keep the current value in the field and use the journal for the history of the discussion.
For an event, preserve the occasion in an event record rather than trying to encode every detail into a tag name.
Keep Definitions Consistent
Choose the field type before adding values. In Dextr, the type is locked once a field has assignments. A different type requires a replacement field.
For numerical comparisons, use consistent units and currency. A number alone does not explain whether it represents dollars, hours, or participants.
For Yes/No values, an unanswered field is different from an explicitly saved No.
Common Questions
Should I Replace All Tags with Fields?
No. They serve different needs. Categories can remain tags while specific values use fields.
Can a Field Replace a Relationship?
A text value can describe a connection, but a dedicated relationship feature can link the actual people. Use the relationship guide for that workflow.
Where Should Longer Context Go?
Use a note or Journal Entry when the information needs a story, date, or explanation.
How Do I Start?
Choose one category you often search and one detail you often forget. Add them to a few contacts and test the resulting workflow.
Store information according to its purpose. Tags gather people, fields preserve values, and history explains how those details developed.
Start with Dextr
Make your contacts easier to find and understand with Dextr. Install Dextr from the App Store.