How to Use Notes and Contacts in SimpliHome

Every household accumulates information that doesn't fit anywhere else. The plumber who did a great job last year — what was his number? The code for the alarm system. The paint colour in the living room. The WiFi password guests always ask for. The vet's emergency number.

SimpliHome's Notes and Contacts sections give your Circle a shared space for this kind of information — accessible to everyone in the household, searchable, and always there when you need it.

#Notes

#What Notes Are For

Notes are freeform. They can hold any information your household wants to keep:

• Home maintenance — boiler reset instructions, fuse box map, plumber details
• Kids' information — school lunch codes, teacher names, club schedules
• Account information — WiFi password, alarm codes, account numbers (non-sensitive)
• Medical — notes from GP appointments, medication instructions
• Property — paint colours and reference numbers, appliance model numbers
• Household rules — agreed household guidelines, routines, procedures
• Planning notes — holiday research, renovation plans, project notes

Anything you find yourself writing down on a piece of paper and then losing — put it in SimpliHome notes instead.

#Creating a Note

1. Go to Notes
2. Click New Note
3. Enter a title — clear and specific (e.g., "Boiler Reset Instructions", not "Boiler")
4. Write the note content in the text area
5. Assign a category (optional but recommended for organisation)
6. Add tags for additional searchability
7. Click Save

#Note Categories

Categories help organise notes visually and make filtering easier. Each category has its own colour.

SimpliHome creates categories automatically as needed, or you can create your own:

1. When creating a note, click New Category in the category dropdown
2. Give it a name (e.g., "Home Maintenance", "School", "Medical")
3. A colour is assigned automatically (which you can change)
4. The category is saved for use in future notes

Suggested categories for most households:

• Home Maintenance
• Vehicles
• School & Childcare
• Medical
• Financial
• Utilities & Accounts
• Holiday & Travel
• General

#Marking Notes as Favourites

For notes you access frequently (WiFi password, alarm code, school contact numbers), mark them as favourites:

1. Open the note
2. Click the Favourite star

Favourites appear at the top of the notes list for quick access.

#Tags

Add tags to notes for cross-category searchability. For example, a note about the car might be in the "Vehicles" category but tagged with ford, mot, 2026 for easy filtering.

To add tags:

1. In the note form, type tags in the Tags field separated by commas
2. Tags are saved when you save the note

#Contacts

#What the Household Address Book Is For

The SimpliHome contacts section is a shared household address book — not your personal phone contacts, but the contacts that the whole household needs access to:

Professionals your household uses:

• Plumber, electrician, builder
• GP, dentist, optician
• Accountant, solicitor
• Estate agent, mortgage broker

Services and utilities:

• Energy supplier customer service number
• Broadband provider support
• Council tax department
• Insurance providers

Local services:

• Vet
• School office numbers
• Childminder/nursery
• Local taxi or delivery services

Family and friends:

• Emergency contacts
• Extended family addresses
• Neighbours

#Adding a Contact

1. Go to Contacts
2. Click Add Contact
3. Fill in the details:

• Name — person or company name
• Phone numbers — mobile, landline, work
• Email address
• Physical address
• Website (useful for businesses)
• Notes — any relevant context (e.g., "Only available Monday–Thursday", "Emergency number: 07xxx")

4. Click Save

#Organising Contacts

As your contact list grows, use notes or descriptive naming to keep it organised:

• Name business contacts with the company type included: "Smith Plumbing Services" not just "Mike Smith"
• Use the notes field to add context: the service area, when you last used them, any relevant account numbers
• For GP and dental surgeries, include the branch/practice name and your registered patient reference

#Why a Shared Address Book Matters

The alternative — everyone using their own phone's contacts — means:

• Your partner doesn't know the plumber's number
• The emergency contact for the kids is only on one person's phone
• The vet's number is on whoever's phone has the pet's vet app
• A household member who loses their phone loses access to all household contacts

A shared SimpliHome contacts list means every household member — and every device — always has access to the same complete, up-to-date contact information.

#Notes vs Other SimpliHome Features

| What you want to record | Best place to put it | |------------------------|---------------------| | Plumber's contact details | Contacts | | Plumber's invoice from last year | File Manager (or attached to the relevant bill) | | Notes from the plumber visit | Notes | | Boiler model number | Notes (or the relevant bill record) | | Boiler warranty document | File Manager (or car/house record documents) | | Boiler renewal date | Bills |

Use Notes for information, Contacts for people, File Manager for documents. When you're unsure, Notes is the most flexible fallback — you can always move something to a more specific section later.

#Access Permissions

| Action | Admin | Family | Relatives | Friends | |--------|-------|--------|-----------|---------| | View notes | Yes | Yes | No | No | | Create notes | Yes | Yes | No | No | | Edit own notes | Yes | Yes | No | No | | View contacts | Yes | Yes | No | No | | Create contacts | Yes | Yes | No | No |

Notes and contacts are accessible to core household members (Family and Admin) only. Relatives and Friends cannot access this section.