iOS Update Removed ‘Recent’ Label for Contacts With Multiple Numbers — No Longer Shows Which Number Texted

Prior to the most recent update, if you had two numbers saved for a particular contact, the only way to tell which number texted you is to look in their contact info and “recent” would appear next to the most recent number used. Since the latest iOS update, that no longer seems to be a feature. How else can we tell which number texted, without having to split the contact into two separate contacts?

iPhone 14 Pro, iOS 26

Posted on Dec 10, 2025 7:13 AM

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4 replies

Dec 15, 2025 2:14 PM in response to danellem

danellem wrote:

I thought I was going mad. I use this all the time and am distraught that it is gone. I can't tell which number is the current one, and I keep all the historical numbers people have had in contacts across multiple databases. Insane that this is now gone.

I can't say I see the point of keeping numbers that are no longer valid, but I'm sure you have your reasons. Could you paste them into the notes section of the contact and remove them from the phone numbers section?

Dec 10, 2025 11:29 AM in response to 867_53_09

867_53_09 wrote:

Prior to the most recent update, if you had two numbers saved for a particular contact, the only way to tell which number texted you is to look in their contact info and “recent” would appear next to the most recent number used. Since the latest iOS update, that no longer seems to be a feature. How else can we tell which number texted, without having to split the contact into two separate contacts? (bold mine)

As far as I'm aware, that's unfortunately the only way to find which number was used now. You can give Apple feedback here.

Dec 15, 2025 2:26 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

That would be a very long and tedious process, and likely confuse the syncing for my older and newer apple products. The last glitch I had deleted all the updated contacts that I had corrected on my phone, and replaced them with old contact info from a secondary laptop. All the system dates were correct. I still don't know what I lost there. I have over a thousand items. I just don't have the energy for this anymore. The old phone numbers are useful when looking people up by phone number. But now I can't tell which is the new one even if I wanted to do that. And it's hard to see the call number from the phone app too. If you have a name associated with the number, it only displays that. I feel blinded. They really didn't test this out on all ages or demographics. And I'm not THAT old. But apparently old enough. lol

iOS Update Removed ‘Recent’ Label for Contacts With Multiple Numbers — No Longer Shows Which Number Texted

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