summary
- The hidden flag indicates that Google Contacts is getting UI updates and new widgets to streamline communication with important contacts.
- The new UI features filter icons, a bottom sheet card to select emails, and a “plus” icon in the search bar to quickly add contacts.
- The new Messages widget in Google Contacts lets users display messages from specific contacts on their home screen for easy access.
Google Contacts is an app that most people with Android smartphones are familiar with, as it’s the default contacts app on Google smartphones, such as Pixel devices. The core functionality and purpose of this service has remained unchanged since 2007, when it first became available in Gmail. It’s all about organizing your contact list. Google likes to frequently adjust the user interface of his suite of its software, and next on that list is Contacts, with pending updates ensuring upgrades in at least one area of his.
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Contacts has been updated to version 4.26, which includes general bug fixes, but some of the enhancements are hidden behind flags. TheSpAndroid’s always reliable AssembleDebug activated these flags and revealed his UI changes hidden behind the surface. Additionally, a new widget will be available on the home screen of users who have the flag enabled.
Once you’ve enabled the new UI, you can press the three horizontal lines filter icon on the Contacts app’s main page to show or hide navigation tips like “Phone,” “Email,” and “Company.” Selecting someone’s email now brings up a new bottom sheet card, which appears to have removed the functionality and need for the sidebar and hamburger icon. Finally, a new “plus” icon appears in the search bar, allowing you to quickly add new contacts, complementing the existing floating action button.
Source: TheSpAndroid
There’s also a new Messages widget available from Google Contacts on your home screen. This app allows you to select one specific contact to display your message, so in theory it would be easy to quickly text him to your most important contacts. AssembleDebug has no information about the public rollout of this feature, so it will remain hidden behind a flag for now.
Source: TheSpAndroid
Last October, Google Contacts rolled out a widget that provides shortcuts to specific contacts. So this new widget coming up looks like a good continuation of the widget that came before. This isn’t the latest update that Contacts has provided either, as Google was working on creating a dedicated section for custom ringtones as of December this year. This redesign of his UI wouldn’t be classified as an overhaul, but the latest changes to Google Maps can certainly be seen as such.
