
Your friends and contacts change jobs, phone numbers, email addresses, and residences all the time. But keeping your digital address book or contact list current with all these changes is tedious at best and often impossible. So, the contacts on most smartphones and computers are usually out of date and incomplete.
你的朋友和聯(lián)系人總在更換工作、電話號(hào)碼、郵箱地址和住址。要使你的電子通訊錄或聯(lián)系人列表跟上所有這些變動(dòng)是項(xiàng)繁復(fù)乏味的工作,而且通常是無法實(shí)現(xiàn)的。因此,大多數(shù)人的智能手機(jī)和電腦上的聯(lián)系人信息都是過時(shí)且不完整的。
Now, a tiny Silicon Valley startup called Addappt is trying to end all that by making your address book self-updating. The company is offering a free service and contacts app of the same name for the iPhone that matches people in each others' address books, and then automatically updates their information when changes occur.
現(xiàn)在,硅谷一家名為Addappt的小公司正在嘗試讓你的通訊錄能夠自動(dòng)更新,從而結(jié)束上述煩惱。這家公司提供一項(xiàng)免費(fèi)服務(wù)以及與公司同名的iPhone通訊錄應(yīng)用程序,該應(yīng)用可以將其注冊(cè)用戶與你通訊錄上的人進(jìn)行匹配,關(guān)聯(lián)上之后,一旦他們的信息變動(dòng),你的通訊錄就會(huì)自動(dòng)更新。
For instance, in my tests of Addappt, one of my colleagues who was helping me try it out updated her home address on her own phone, and the new address appeared within minutes on her contact card in my phone's address book. In turn, I added an additional phone number to my address record on my phone, and it showed up in her information for me almost immediately. No manual changes were needed on either end.
比如,在我測(cè)試Addappt時(shí),一個(gè)幫我進(jìn)行測(cè)試的同事在她自己的手機(jī)上更新了她的家庭住址,短短幾分鐘內(nèi),我手機(jī)通訊錄里她的名片頁就顯示出了該新住址。反過來,我在我的手機(jī)上往自己的聯(lián)系信息中加了一個(gè)額外的電話號(hào)碼,而這幾乎立即就出現(xiàn)在了她的手機(jī)上。兩端都不需要進(jìn)行任何手動(dòng)操作。
Addappt users control their own information. Only the person who is the subject of a contact card can make changes that will be synchronized through Addappt. It isn't a social network, and it has no ties to Facebook or Twitter. Addappt says it stores only your own record, not your whole address book, on its servers. The idea is to focus on the address book, and make it better, not clutter it up.
用戶自己的信息由用戶負(fù)責(zé)管理。每張名片只能被它的所有人更改,而這些更改將通過Addappt被同步。它不是一個(gè)社交網(wǎng)絡(luò),而且與Facebook或Twitter沒有關(guān)聯(lián)。Addappt公司說,他們?cè)诜?wù)器上只保存你本人的記錄,而不是你的整個(gè)通訊錄。這個(gè)構(gòu)想是專注于通訊錄,使它變得更完善,而不是把它搞復(fù)雜。
After testing Addappt, I can say it does what it promises. I tried it successfully with several people. I was able to use Addappt itself as my address book, or to stick with my phone's familiar contacts app, because Addappt instantly shares any changes with the built-in iPhone app, and vice versa. In fact, if you use Apple's iCloud to synchronize your own address books, changes made automatically by Addappt can be propagated to all iCloud-connected devices, including iPads and Macs.
在測(cè)試Addappt之后,我可以說它做到了它所承諾的。我與好幾個(gè)人進(jìn)行的測(cè)試都成功了。我可以將Addappt本身作為我的通訊錄,或者繼續(xù)使用我手機(jī)上我所熟悉的通訊錄應(yīng)用,因?yàn)锳ddappt會(huì)立即把所有信息變更同步到iPhone的內(nèi)置通訊錄應(yīng)用上,反之亦然。事實(shí)上,如果你使用蘋果iCloud來同步你的通訊錄,由Addappt自動(dòng)做出的任何改動(dòng)都可以傳到你所有與iCloud相連的設(shè)備上,包括iPad和Mac電腦。
However, this is a new product from a company with few resources, so it is just starting out. That means it has some limitations and flaws that keep it, at least for now, from being a universal, living address book.
不過,Addappt是由一家沒多少資源的公司開發(fā)的新產(chǎn)品,所以它僅僅處于起步階段。這意味著它存在一定的局限性和一些瑕疵,這使得它至少在目前很難成為一款普遍適用的、實(shí)時(shí)的通訊錄。
One limitation is that because Addappt is an iPhone-only app, you can't get self-updating information for those people in your address book who don't use iPhones. The company says it hopes to add an Android version by the middle of 2013, and has longer-range plans for other platforms.
局限之一:因?yàn)锳ddappt是一款僅支持iPhone的應(yīng)用,你無法自動(dòng)獲得你通訊錄中那些不使用iPhone的人對(duì)通訊信息進(jìn)行的更新。該公司說它希望在2013年年中開發(fā)出安卓版本,并且有開發(fā)兼容其他平臺(tái)的版本的長期計(jì)劃。
Another is that, to gain the benefits of Addappt, you have to convince even your iPhone-using contacts to download and use it. But the company makes this somewhat difficult. Every new user must apply for an invitation code to activate the app. The company says this process is needed to authenticate people, and to guard against a surge of new users, which might swamp its servers.
另一局限是,要想充分享受Addappt帶來的便利,對(duì)于你那些使用iPhone的聯(lián)系人,你也得說服他們下載并使用這款應(yīng)用。但是這家公司把這一過程弄得有些麻煩──每一位新用戶必須先申請(qǐng)到一個(gè)邀請(qǐng)碼以激活這款應(yīng)用。該公司稱這一過程對(duì)于用戶的身份驗(yàn)證來說是必需的,另外也可防止大量用戶的涌入導(dǎo)致服務(wù)器癱瘓。
And the app has some flaws. It can't make a match between two Addappt users, even if they're in each others' iPhone contact lists, unless their current contact cards have the email address each used to join Addappt (it must be the top email on the contact card) or your name and the top phone number listed. Also, I found the Alphabetical index down the side of the Addappt app, meant to save you from scrolling through long lists, worked poorly.
而且這款應(yīng)用程序有一些瑕疵。它對(duì)兩個(gè)Addappt用戶進(jìn)行匹配必須滿足以下條件:他們現(xiàn)在的聯(lián)系人卡片中有他們各自用于注冊(cè)Addappt賬號(hào)的郵件地址(而且該地址必須是其聯(lián)系人卡片中的首選郵件地址)或者你的名字以及首選電話號(hào)碼在列,除此之外,即使這兩個(gè)Addappt用戶都在對(duì)方的iPhone聯(lián)系人列表中也不能自動(dòng)匹配。并且,我發(fā)現(xiàn)這款應(yīng)用的字母索引在底部,這項(xiàng)功能的初衷是讓你不必滾動(dòng)長長的列表進(jìn)行查找,但其實(shí)它很不好用。
In addition, the Addappt app lacks a Favorites or Recents list. Finally, while the company swears it will never share or sell or rent any contact information, it has yet to post a formal privacy policy.
另外,Addappt沒有常用聯(lián)系人和最近聯(lián)系人列表。最后一點(diǎn),雖然這家公司發(fā)誓說它永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)分享、出售或者租賃任何聯(lián)系人信息,但它尚未公布正式的隱私保護(hù)政策。
In many other respects, however, the app is nicely designed and easy to use. Once it is up and running, it scans your address book to see if it can match any of your contacts to other Addappt users. If it can, it automatically connects you with them. As people in your address book join and use Addappt, they also get connected.
無論如何,在其他許多方面,這款應(yīng)用程序都設(shè)計(jì)得很棒,并且使用方便。一旦它被設(shè)置好并且開始工作,它便會(huì)掃描你的通訊錄以查看它是否能將你通訊錄中的聯(lián)系人與其他Addappt用戶配對(duì)。如果可以,它便會(huì)自動(dòng)將你和他們關(guān)聯(lián)上。當(dāng)你的手機(jī)聯(lián)系人中有人注冊(cè)并開始使用Addappt,它同樣能將他們與你關(guān)聯(lián)。
Addappt users who aren't in each others' address books can ask for permission to connect. The app includes a list of connected users, and pending connections, as well as your entire address book. In the main list, connected users are designated by small icons showing two links of a chain.
對(duì)于沒有在通訊錄上記錄彼此聯(lián)系方式的Addappt用戶,可以通過發(fā)送請(qǐng)求來建立聯(lián)系。這款應(yīng)用程序包含一個(gè)已建立聯(lián)系的聯(lián)系人列表,一個(gè)等待認(rèn)證的聯(lián)系人列表以及你的完整通訊錄。在主列表中,已建立聯(lián)系的用戶被形狀為帶兩個(gè)鏈環(huán)的一根鏈條的小圖標(biāo)標(biāo)示出來。
Addappt's address book itself is attractive and easy to use. As you scroll through it, the contact at the top of the screen expands to show more information -- such as the city and state -- and even the local time (so you don't wake people up in the middle of the night). Icons appear that allow you immediately to make a voice call, or to send an email or text, without opening the contact entry.
Addappt的通訊錄本身很有吸引力并且易用。當(dāng)你滾動(dòng)它時(shí),位于屏幕頂端的聯(lián)系人條目會(huì)展開,以顯示更多信息──諸如其所在的州和城市──甚至當(dāng)?shù)貢r(shí)間(因而你不會(huì)在對(duì)方的深夜時(shí)間將其吵醒)。展開的條目上還會(huì)出現(xiàn)一些圖標(biāo),讓你可以立即撥打語音電話,或者發(fā)送郵件或消息,而不需打開該聯(lián)系人條目。
What information for a person in your contact book will change once you are connected to him or her on Addappt? It depends. For some things, like name or photo or job title, the other person's choices will obliterate yours.
一旦你在Addappt上與某人建立聯(lián)系,你通訊錄中與該聯(lián)系人對(duì)應(yīng)的哪些信息會(huì)被更改?這得看情況。對(duì)于有些東西,諸如名字、照片和職位,對(duì)方提供的信息將會(huì)沖掉你原本的記錄。
For others, like phone numbers, which can have multiple entries, information you've entered for the person will be preserved, and the contact's own new information will be added.
對(duì)于其他可以同時(shí)保存多條記錄的信息,諸如電話號(hào)碼,你已經(jīng)為聯(lián)系人錄入的信息將被保留,而該聯(lián)系人自己的新信息將會(huì)被添加進(jìn)來。
Contacts' pictures in Addappt are supplied by the person whose contact it is, and are displayed in a large size on the contact card.
Addappt中聯(lián)系人的照片由聯(lián)系人本人提供,并且在聯(lián)系人卡片上以大尺寸顯示。
The product has no advertising. The company hopes to make money eventually by selling premium versions with additional features.
這款產(chǎn)品沒有插入廣告。該公司希望最終能通過銷售帶附加功能的高級(jí)版本掙錢。
Addappt is a promising product that could solve a real problem. But it can't reach its full potential until it runs on all platforms.
Addappt是一款很有前途的產(chǎn)品,它可能能幫人們解決一個(gè)很實(shí)際的問題。但在能兼容所有平臺(tái)前,它還無法充分發(fā)揮其潛力。