Summary
- Google Contacts is testing a default third-party video calling app feature to improve the user experience.
- Users can set a default app for video calls in contact details, and bypass carrier-driven calls.
- This update is not live yet, but could be implemented in the next year for easier access to popular video chat apps.
Google Contacts currently defaults to carrier video calling for your video calls, or makes you jump through hoops to launch a different app. First you need to expand the ‘Connected apps’ section on a contact’s details, and then select a third-party app. But that might change.
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Google is testing a new feature for Google Contacts that will allow users to set a default app for video calls (via Android Authority). This means you could bypass carrier-driven calls and jump directly into a third-party app, such as WhatsApp. This is all part of Google Contacts v4.46.53.705303683.
Here’s how this feature might work
Source: Android Authority
An APK teardown of the beta shows how this might work. On a contact, long press on the video call button to select a default video calling app. Once chosen, the selected app’s icon will replace the default carrier icon on that individual’s contact page. This means anytime you launch a video call for that particular contact, it will do so in your selected default app.
If a contact has multiple numbers, long-pressing the button will display all available video calling options for easy selection. And if a contact just so happens to not be available on the selected app (such as WhatsApp in the United States), the system will display a network bar icon to indicate that the call will revert to a carrier-driven video call.
It’s the small things that count
This isn’t a big change by any means. But it improves our user experience significantly. Setting a default video calling app for our contacts reduces friction when using third-party tools. After all, apps like WhatsApp, Zoom, Messenger, and Telegram have taken over communication. Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Snapchat are the most popular video chat apps in the US, while Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams are currently the most-used professional video conferencing apps.
These updates are not live in the current version of Google Contacts. But they could be coming sometime in the next year. Until then, you’ll need to continue taking extra steps to launch a third party video calling app from the Google Contacts app.