Google can’t make up its mind about its app interfaces
The Google Contacts app for Android already received its initial Material You makeover back in July 2021, but now, its developers are updating a few more parts of the app to be more in line with Google’s current design guidelines. In the latest revision, the Contacts app has received a Material You bottom bar, replacing its hamburger menu for good.
Judging on the reports we’ve received, the new interface is rolling out as a server-side switch that some avid developers might even be able to activate manually for themselves. Based on the screenshot we’ve received from one of our tipsters, the redesign is moving most of the items previously available in the three-lines hamburger menu in the top left into a Fix & manage section, accessible via a new bottom bar. You’ll find options for merging, fixing, restoring, exporting, and importing contacts in there as well as access to trash, settings, emergency contacts setup, and blocked numbers. Since we’ve only received a screenshot of the new Fix & manage section, it’s unclear where you’ll be able to access your labels, though.
Current look (first two) vs. new look
It appears this new design is part of Google’s larger effort to eradicate the hamburger menu, since it’s getting increasingly out of reach on our ever growing phone screens. The transition makes a lot of sense, but Google’s overall strategy on this is a bit muddy right now, much to our disliking. It appears that the Google Messages app is bound to receive a hamburger menu again after removing it a while ago, and we’ve spotted the Google Photos app experimenting with one, too.
In either case, it’s great to see the Contacts app removing the increasingly unergonomic hamburger menu, and we can only hope that Google will continue this process overall, despite some recent regressions.
Thanks: Eduardo and Mishaal Rahman
Read Next
About The Author
