Key Takeaways
- An update to the Google Contacts widget should soon allow unlimited favorite contacts.
- The new widget also displays contact names in addition to avatars.
- The changes were spotted in an APK teardown and are not yet official.
Anticipation is building for Android 15 and the Google Pixel 9. Things might get even better thanks to an exciting discovery within the Google Contacts widget. Google may now be addressing a long-standing complaint with the widget by removing the seven-contact limit and letting you add as many favorite contacts as you want. It could also start displaying contact names.
The change was discovered by code expert AssembeDebug (Shiv) during an APK teardown of the Google Contacts app (via Android Authority). The update is still inactive, but code for the feature indicates users will be able to add as many favorite contacts as they want to the widget. The new widget will also display contact names, and not only avatars.
A change for the better
This would be a substantial update to the Contacts widget, which received a significant makeover just last year. The widget lets you know when you have missed calls or messages from one of your favorite contacts, reminds you of important dates, like birthdays, and gives you a convenient way to quickly call or message people. It’s a nice-looking and intuitive widget and adds great quality-of-life features to your phone.
However, the widget comes with several limitations. For starters, you can not add more than seven favorite contacts to the widget. It also displays only your contacts’ avatars, leaving you to guess who is who in the widget. If your contact was imported from outside Google, you’ll have to either manually assign an avatar or stick with a default Google-supplied one. The ability to add more contacts and see their names will make the widget far more useful.
Google has not officially confirmed these changes, but the APK teardown strongly suggests they are coming. Changes in the APKs are not always guaranteed to make it to the final release, however. But if it is coming, we’ll likely see it with the official release of Android 15, which is slated for next month. We’ll just have to wait and see.
