title: Keeping a long-term reference to an IOS AddressBook entry
body: <p>Given that an ABRecordID can change between cloud syncs and under other circumstances out of my control, how can I maintain a long-term reference to an IOS address book record?</p>
  
  <p>Apple provides the following guidance:</p>
  
  <p>"The recommended way to keep a long-term reference to a particular record is to store the first and last name, or a hash of the first and last name, in addition to the identifier. When you look up a record by ID, compare the record’s name to your stored name. If they don’t match, use the stored name to find the record, and store the new ID for the record."</p>
  
  <p>But I don't understand this guidance. If the address book can have duplicate names in it AND since users can modify the name in a record how could this advice work?</p>
  
  <p>For example, if the user modifies the name of an address book record my routine will fail to find it by ABRecordID so if I think search by the name hash I stored couldn't I find a duplicate name instead of the new ABRecordID for that specific record I previously referenced?</p>
  
  <p>In the end, what is the BEST way to get a long-term reference to an IOS AddressBook record? And if the above advice really does work what am I missing?</p>