How to fix that weird iPhone 'glitch' where someone's number keeps popping up even after you delete them
Flickr / Michele Ursino
Sometimes you just need to delete someone's number from your phone. The act can be cathartic, and also stop you from texting them at one of your weaker moments.
Unless you have an iPhone, that is.
There's a funny iPhone "glitch" that's been around for a few years, and probably won't ever be fixed in the traditional sense as it's actually designed to be a feature of sorts. If you delete the number of someone you've been texting with, and delete the text message thread, their number will still pop up as soon as you begin typing the letters of their name in the messages app.
Here's an example.
If you deleted my number from your phone, it would disappear from your contacts. If you typed even my full name into your contacts, nothing would pop up.
This is not, however, the case in the messages app. Every time you typed "Na," or "Nat," or "Nath," depending on how often we texted and how many contacts you have, my name would eventually show up at the top. My name and number would be right there, in case you wanted to text me.
Here's how it looks with this fake contact I created (and then deleted), "Dun Du Dun."
The reason has to do with an Apple feature called "Recents." Recents stores the information of people who you have recently interacted with, even if you've deleted their number. To remove someone from Recents, you have to click the blue "I" icon next to the number, scroll down, and tap "Remove from Recents."
I don't think anyone could describe this as an intuitive process, since Apple gives you no indication that Recents is the reason why this darn number keeps popping up. But in fairness, it's easy to see why Apple doesn't think this is that big of a deal. Your iPhone is simply giving you as much information as it possibly can to try and connect you with the right person.
The problem is that the act of deleting someone's number is often not just, "Well, I don't really have room for you in my contacts." It's more like, "I seriously don't want to contact you any more."
And my iPhone is indulging all my worst tendencies by letting me text that person.
Business Insider has reached out to Apple for comment but have not heard back.