Name update writes to wrong rawContactId on contacts with multiple raw contacts (e.g. Google + WhatsApp)

[rajivm1991]

Bug Description

When updating a contact's name fields (first, middle, last) on Android, the changes do not persist if the contact has multiple raw contacts (e.g. Google account + WhatsApp).

Root Cause

The Dart Name model does not expose a metadata field (unlike Phone, Email, etc.). As a result, when Dart serializes the contact for update, the name's rawContactId is not included in the JSON payload sent to Kotlin.

On the Kotlin side, getPrimaryRawContactIdForUpdate calls getRawContactIdWithMostProperties, which counts properties per raw contact using their metadata. Because contact.name?.metadata is always null (never round-tripped from Dart), the name's rawContactId contributes zero to the count. The "winner" is determined solely by phone/email/etc counts — which often picks the WhatsApp raw contact.

Name.toUpdateOperations(rawContactId) then:

1. Deletes StructuredName from the WhatsApp raw contact (which had none)
2. Inserts new StructuredName into the WhatsApp raw contact

Meanwhile, the Google raw contact's StructuredName is untouched. Android's aggregation prefers the Google account for names, so the old name persists.

Reproduction

1. Have a contact with both a Google account raw contact and a WhatsApp raw contact
2. Call FlutterContacts.get(id, properties: ContactProperties.all) — fetch succeeds, name is correct
3. Modify contact.name (e.g. clear middle name)
4. Call FlutterContacts.update(contact) — returns successfully
5. Re-fetch the contact — name is unchanged

Logcat evidence (name.middle being cleared, verify immediately after update):

[SAVE] fresh name: first=Jegadesan S. middle=K. last=Auditor
[SAVE] updated name: first=Jegadesan S. middle= last=Auditor
[SAVE] update complete for id=76954
[SAVE] verify name: first=Jegadesan S. middle=K. last=Auditor   ← unchanged
[SAVE]   rawContact: id=518  account=rajiv.m1991@gmail.com type=com.google
[SAVE]   rawContact: id=76866 account=WhatsApp type=com.whatsapp

Expected Fix

Add metadata field to the Dart Name class (same as Phone, Email, Address, etc. already have). This allows the name's rawContactId to round-trip through the method channel, so getRawContactIdWithMostProperties correctly counts the name's raw contact and picks the right one for the update.

// Name class should include:
final PropertyMetadata? metadata;

And in copyWith:

Name copyWith({
  ...
  PropertyMetadata? metadata,
}) => Name(
  ...
  metadata: metadata ?? this.metadata,
);

Environment

• flutter_contacts: 2.2.0
• Android (tested on device with Google account + WhatsApp contacts)
• Contacts with 2 raw contacts: com.google + com.whatsapp

[joachim-quis]

thanks for the super detailed writeup @rajivm1991, that diagnosis saved me a ton of time 🙏

fixed in 2.2.1. root cause was slightly different than the round-trip angle though: on update the name was getting written to the "primary" raw contact (the one with the most properties), which on a google + whatsapp contact often isn't the raw contact that actually holds the name. since the name write is a delete-then-reinsert keyed on the raw contact (no dataId match), it landed on the wrong one and your google name was left untouched → silent no-op.

now it writes the name back to the raw contact it already lives on. i couldn't repro on a physical dual-account device on my end, so would appreciate if you could upgrade and confirm it works for you before i close.

[rajivm1991]

Confirmed fixed on 2.2.1. Tested on Android 16 with a contact having both Google and WhatsApp raw contacts — name update now persists correctly. Thanks for the quick turnaround!

[joachim-quis]

wonderful! thanks for confirming 🙏