Key Takeaways
- The Google Contacts app has updated its Create contact page, making it more concise and user-friendly.
- This redesign showcases only necessary fields upfront, with the option to add more fields as needed.
- Google Contacts is also working on an updated widget to display more favorite contacts on the home screen.
The Google Contacts app has been testing new flows for adding a new contact, with one curious experiment removing the familiar FAB altogether. But a few weeks before that odd design change, we stumbled upon a redesigned Create contact page that was more concise and put all the necessary information front and center rather than flooding the screen with all the fields at once. Around four and a half months after that revelation, Google Contacts is now widely rolling out this updated Create contact page.
As revealed by Android Police senior contributor Mishaal Rahman in a post on the Android subreddit, the updated design is rolling out on v4.39.53 of Google Contacts. The change is live on my Android smartphone as well, which is running Contacts version 4.40.48, suggesting that the redesign went live as part of a server-side update.
Old Create contact page
A more refined experience
Freshly updated Create contact page
The new design is undoubtedly more refined, with text boxes appearing only for four fields (First Name, Last Name, Company, and Phone). An Add phone button just below the Phone field lets you add another phone number for the same contact. There are pill-shaped buttons to add an email, significant date, or address, with a dedicated button that lets you add the contact to a label. Scrolling to the bottom of this updated Create contact page reveals a text box for notes and a button to add more fields.
Tapping this Add fields button reveals a sheet revealing options for middle name, phonetic pronunciation, prefix, suffix, job title, website, and more. This is certainly an upgrade over the old design as it cuts down on the onscreen clutter. More often than not, adding a new contact involves setting up a phone number first, so it’s good to see Google prioritizing what matters most.
The Contacts team has cleaned up the overall design of the Create contact page in other ways, too, as the icons next to each field have disappeared. This makes sense as the fields have moved to the center of the screen for better visibility overall. On top of this nifty design update, the Contacts app is also working on an updated home screen widget that removes the cap on the number of favorite contacts that can be displayed, which is currently limited to seven.