The Google Contacts app can serve as your hub to message and call your friends and co-workers without first having to find them in WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, and Co. The interface can get a little overwhelming, though, with each contact page listing every possible action for every app (message, call, video call). This is now changing, with a new top-level menu only showing each service you and a given contact are connected on.
Really, the change is as simple as it gets. Rather than showing every possible action you can use to contact a given person, it will only show which services they’re using, with a chevron indicating that there are additional options to choose from when you tap. Only when you do so you will see that you can call, message, or video call someone on WhatsApp, for example.
The new look, spotted by AssembleDebug, has started rolling out to some with Google Contacts version 4.26. We can confirm that it’s available for us already, but as with any server-side rollout from Google like this, your mileage may vary, and it could take a while until you can see the design change on your device.
While this change arguably looks a lot cleaner than listing every single action, it has one negative side effect. To contact someone on a messaging service, you will now have to first tap the service itself and then choose the option you want to pick, requiring two taps. In the past, you could jump into conversations and onto phone calls with a single tap.
Google Contacts is preparing an even bigger overall for its app. Back in February, AssembleDebug revealed a work-in-progress redesign that removes the hamburger menu. There is also a new widget that makes it easier to start conversations and phone calls with your favorite contacts. It may still take some time until the redesign will show up in production, but the revamped messaging service integration could be a hint that it’s coming soon.
Maybe if we start telling people the brain is an app they will start using it!
