Smart vs Basic Contacts on illumy: What's the Difference?

As you send messages  on illumy, you might notice in the left-side Messaging panel that some connections appear in purple (or white, in dark mode) and some in gray. The names in purple or white are "smart contacts"—the people who were smart enough to join illumy—like you!

The gray names, meanwhile, are basic contacts. There are some similarities, but there are some notable differences, too.

start with the basics

Basically (see what we did there?), a basic contact is someone you are messaging on illumy that is not an illumy user. Because illumy works with all the email addresses in the world, anyone can email you on illumy—with your permission, of course—but you may not be able to use all of illumy's cool features with basic contacts.

You can view a basic contact in your Contacts Book, or pin that conversation to the top of your Messaging panel. But while you can exchange emails with your basic contacts, you can't send them an on-net (encrypted) illumy chat. You also miss out on illumy's free, unlimited on-net voice calling.

If your basic contact changes their email address, they have to re-connect with you in a new illumy conversation thread. If they get a new phone number or change any other personal info, they’ll have to let you know so you can manually update their contact card. Basic contacts are pretty old-school, in other words.

Let's take this out -- it's confusing all about the Smarties

Smart contacts are other illumy users whom you're messaging. Their names appear in purple (or white, in dark mode) in the left-side Messaging panel. What makes them "smart" is that their contact cards are always up to date -- because their contact card is their personal illumy profile. As they update their profile, you see their new info without having to do anything.

Smart contacts are smarter in other ways, too. Smart-contact conversations come standard with all of illumy's powerful features, including encrypted chat, free on-net voice calling, file sharing, message reactions… you get the idea. 

At illumy, we want you to be able to communicate with anyone in the world. It's just a little bit easier, faster, and more secure with smart contacts. So get your friends to join you on illumy. To them, you'll look like the smartest one in the room.