When someone calls you on an iPhone running iOS 17 or later, they no longer see just your name and a tiny circular photo. Instead, they see a Contact Poster — a full-screen visual identity card that fills their entire display with a large photo, a Memoji, a monogram, or a stylised design. Contact Posters are Apple’s way of letting you control how you appear on other people’s screens when you call them.
Think of it as a personalised caller ID that you design yourself. You choose the photo, the font, the colour scheme, and the overall style. When you call anyone with an iPhone, your Contact Poster is what they see.
How to Create Your Contact Poster
- Open the Contacts app on your iPhone.
- Tap My Card at the top of the contacts list.
- Tap Contact Photo & Poster.
- Tap Edit (or Customise if you are setting it up for the first time).
- You will see a full-screen preview of your Contact Poster with options to customise it.
Choosing Your Poster Style
You can create Contact Posters using four different styles:
Photo
Use any photo from your camera roll as the background. The photo fills the entire screen, with your name displayed in a large, customisable font overlaid on top. You can adjust the photo’s position and scale by pinching and dragging.
Tips for the best photo:
- Choose a portrait-orientation photo with your face clearly visible.
- Photos with a clean, uncluttered background work best because the text overlay remains readable.
- Apple’s depth effect (where the name text appears to sit behind your head) works automatically with photos that have a clear subject-background separation. This creates a professional, layered look.
Memoji
Use your personalised Memoji as the poster image. You can choose from various expressions and poses. The Memoji appears on a coloured background that you can customise.
Monogram
A clean, text-only design that displays your initials in a large, bold font on a solid colour background. This is a minimalist option for users who prefer not to use a photo.
Emoji
Choose any emoji as the poster background, displayed at a large scale with a customisable background colour. This is the most playful option.
Customising the Name Font and Colour
Regardless of which style you choose, your name is displayed in a large, customisable font at the top of the Contact Poster. Tap on the name text to open the font customisation options:
- Font style: Choose from several typeface options, ranging from elegant serif fonts to bold, modern sans-serif designs.
- Font weight: Adjust how bold or thin the text appears using a slider.
- Font colour: Choose from a colour picker, including solid colours, a spectrum selector, and an eyedropper tool that picks colours directly from your photo.
For photo-based posters, choose a text colour that contrasts well with the photo. White text works on darker photos, while black or dark blue works on lighter backgrounds.
Applying Colour Filters to Photos
When using a photo-based Contact Poster, you can swipe left and right to apply different colour filters:
- Natural — The original photo colours, unchanged.
- Studio — A portrait-style lighting effect with a gradient background.
- Black & White — A monochrome filter that gives a classic, dramatic look.
- Colour Wash — A duotone filter that applies a single colour tint to the entire image. You can change the tint colour by tapping the colour picker at the bottom.
These filters are non-destructive — they only affect how the photo appears in the Contact Poster, not the original image in your photo library.
Creating Multiple Contact Posters
You can create several different Contact Poster designs and switch between them at any time. On the Contact Photo & Poster screen, swipe left to see all your designs or create a new one by swiping to the end and tapping +.
This is useful if you want different looks for different contexts — a professional photo for weekdays and a casual Memoji for weekends, for example.
Linking Contact Posters to Focus Modes
You can automatically switch your Contact Poster based on which Focus mode is active:
- Open Settings > Focus.
- Select a Focus mode (for example, “Work”).
- Scroll down to Customise Screens.
- Under Contact Photo & Poster, select the design you want to use when this Focus is active.
Now, when your “Work” Focus activates, your Contact Poster automatically switches to your professional design. When it deactivates, it reverts to your default.
How Contact Posters Appear to Others
Your Contact Poster is displayed to other iPhone users in several situations:
- Incoming calls: When you call someone, your Contact Poster fills their screen.
- Contact cards: Your poster appears at the top of your contact card in their Contacts app.
- NameDrop: When you share your contact details via NameDrop, your Contact Poster is the first thing the other person sees.
- Messages: Your Contact Poster photo appears in the Messages app conversation list.
Privacy Controls
You control who sees your Contact Poster:
- Open Contacts > My Card > Contact Photo & Poster.
- Toggle Name & Photo Sharing on or off.
- Choose whether sharing happens automatically (everyone in your contacts) or only after you approve (you are asked each time).
If you disable sharing, callers will see a standard caller ID with your name and a default icon instead of your custom poster.
Creating Contact Posters for Other People
You can also create custom Contact Posters for other people in your contacts. This only affects how they appear on your phone (not how they appear to the world):
- Open the Contacts app.
- Select a contact.
- Tap Edit, then tap the photo area.
- Design a Contact Poster for them using any photo, Memoji, or monogram.
This is useful for customising how your most frequently called contacts appear on your screen.
Contact Posters are a small but meaningful personalisation feature that makes phone calls feel more modern and personal. Taking five minutes to set one up ensures you always make a great first impression on the other end of the line.