What you need to know
- Google appears to be adding filter chips to Google Contacts.
- The filter options are similar to the ones introduced to Gmail last year.
- For the time being, the new search feature appears to be part of an A/B test, as it is not widely available.
Trying to find a specific contact in Google Contacts can be tricky, especially if you keep a long list of people in your phonebook, but new evidence suggests that Google may solve this situation in the future.
According to Android Police (opens in new tab), Google Contacts is getting an update that will include chip filters to help you sort your contacts. The new feature appears to be rolling out as part of an A/B test, with only a handful of users currently seeing it.
When it becomes more widely available, you will be able to narrow your search by phone contacts, email contacts, or company. The third filter is useful if you want to look for someone whose name you don’t remember but know the company where they work.
You should be able to do the same thing with the phone and email contact filters. The chips show up under the search bar when you start looking for a specific contact.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because Google introduced the same search functionality to Gmail on the web in 2020, as well as Android phones last year. Contacts’ chips are oval in shape, similar to those found in Gmail for Android and the web. The same feature is available on Google Drive as well.
However, Contacts has fewer chips than Gmail’s mobile and web versions. But it’s a safe bet Google will add more filter options once this is rolled out to the public.
It remains unclear when this new feature will be widely available. Android Central has reached out to Google and will update this article once we receive a response.
