Since Google Contacts is the default contacts app for Google phones, including Pixel smartphones, most Android phone users should be familiar with it. Since it was first made accessible for Gmail in 2007, the service’s primary objective has stayed the same: helping you organize your contacts list. Google is known for regularly modifying the user interface of its software suite, and Contacts is no exception. An next update is expected to bring about an improvement, at least in one area.

Although version 4.26 of Contacts will include general bug fixes, some of its improvements are concealed by flags. TheSpAndroid’s dependable AssembleDebug turned on those flags and revealed the UI tweaks that were concealed beneath the surface. Furthermore, users can access a new widget with the flags activated on their home screens.

When the new user interface is activated, navigational chips like “Phone,” “Email,” and “Company” can be shown or hidden by tapping the filter symbol with three horizontal lines on the Contacts app’s home screen. The sidebar and hamburger icon no longer appear when you select someone’s email, and a new bottom sheet card appears instead. Last but not least, in addition to the current floating action button, a new “plus” icon is now accessible in the search bar to enable speedy addition of new contacts.

Additionally, Google Contacts on your home screen should enable you to use the new messages widget. The ability to choose which contact you want the app to see messages from should theoretically make it simpler to send fast texts to your most critical contacts. For the time being, this feature will be buried behind flags because AssembleDebug does not have any information about its public distribution.

The Google Contacts widget that offered a shortcut to a single contact was released in October of last year, and it appears that this new widget will build upon that functionality. It’s not the most recent upgrade Contacts has provided, either; as of this past December, Google was working on a section specifically for personalized ringtones. Although it won’t be considered an upgrade, Google Maps’ most recent updates can definitely be viewed as such.