[aselzer]

Wouldn't even call it a programmer error. Someone probably just implemented a getContacts() function that gets called often in the background without saving the data in a local database or caching - and why would you do anything other than this for very marginal performance benefits, a rise in complexity, and possible data sync issues?

Another app might access your contacts rarely but store them on their server (Facebook!?). I definitely prefer the previous scenario.

[NegativeK]

I'm sitting at a desk, working on an app that uses the contacts book like you're describing.

Your reasoning is spot on.

[will_pseudonym]

Plus, I would imagine that the contacts list is going to be the most efficient way to store and retrieve that data. It's in a database, just like anyone else's is, right?