Google Contacts widget gets a useful feature

The Google Contacts widget will soon give users the option to view messages sent by contacts directly on their home screen. Let’s take a look at the details together.

Messages will now also be visible in the Google Contacts widget

Google Contacts is working on a widget update that will allow users to view text messages directly on their home screen. With the feature, it will be necessary to allow Contacts notification access to view and reply to the latest message from a specific contact

In addition, the phone, email and company icons of the main Contacts screen have been moved behind the three-dot menu. So there has been a design change. Google Contacts may soon have a home screen widget where you can see your messages without opening the messaging app.

This feature was discovered by opening the developer settings in version 4.26 of the Google Contacts app. The Google Contacts widget will allow users to see conversations with specific contacts directly from the home screen.

With the current Google Contacts widget, you only see the contact itself and when you tap it, you are taken to the relevant chat window. The idea behind the feature is, as you might expect, to be able to see the messages of your frequent contacts without wasting time. And it looks like Google is working on replacing WhatsApp as the main messaging app.

A visual change has also been spotted in the Contacts app. The phone, email and company icons are moving behind the three-dot menu. This change makes room for a new “+” icon in the search bar and makes it simpler for users to add new contacts.

When interacting with contact details such as email and tags, a handy sub-page full of various options will be accessed, replacing the sidebar usually accessible via the hamburger menu. Currently, these features are in testing. Do you like it? What do you think? Please don’t forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments section.