AddressBookQuickEntry is a stand-alone app that offers a streamlined and easier-to-use interface for entering contacts into Address Book.

The developer created it after finding that “Address Book’s interfac for creating and entering new information is clunky, accident-prone, and very non-Apple.”

The interface is certainly clean and clear:

Hitting “Add One” will quit AddressBookQuickEntry after creating the card. If you want to add multiple cards, use the “Add” button, then click the “Clear” button to clear the data and do it again.

It’s clever too: If you enter an organization name without a person’s name, the new card will default to a “Company” card.

The developer recommends putting AddressBookQuickEntry into your dock, next to your Address Book icon (although you could just as easily set “ABQE” as a match in QuickSilver).

The only thing I will miss is a URL field.

What I like about this especially is the option to add contacts to a group, something I often forget to do in Address Book’s own entry template. Later when navigating in Address Book by groups, I wonder where the person has gone!

AddressBookQuickEntry is freeware and is was available from the developer’s web site [DEAD LINK]. (UPDATE: 20 June 2009 The app is now available again at a new site ).

[I read about this in Ed Eubank's article on Address Book]