When Google rolled out Android 16, most of the chatter wasn’t about new features—it was the fresh new look stealing the spotlight. Material 3 Expressive, the visual revamp baked into Android’s latest iteration, is being rolled out separately and slowly. A few Google apps are already wearing the new coat of paint, and now the Phone app has officially joined the party.
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It’s time to up your game Google
In a blog post, Google said it’s cleaning up the Phone app to make jumping between contacts and call logs quicker. The bottom menu is now way simpler, replacing the “Favorites,” “Recents,” “Contacts,” and “Voicemail” tabs with “Home,” “Keypad,” and “Voicemail.” Filters like “Missed,” “Spam,” and “Contacts” have moved up top within the Home tab (via 9to5Google).
The new Home tab is where things really change. Favorites and call logs now live together, with the top half showing your favorite contacts as big icons, followed by your full call history. The call log has received a tidy-up too: repeat calls from the same number don’t bunch up anymore, making it way easier to see how often someone tried to reach you.
Call history itself has seen a little visual refresh. Recent calls now sit in little rounded boxes with a contrasting background, just like we saw a few days ago.
The “Contacts” tab is gone. Instead, the Keypad tab now sits right in the middle and takes over the old floating action button’s job. In the older setup, the dialer FAB followed you around, no matter which tab you were on.
Source: Google
Swipe to answer: Because pockets are tricky
Google is also testing a new swipe gesture to take or reject calls. The company says it’s based on user suggestions and should help cut down on accidental answers or declines when you’re pulling your phone out of your pocket.
All of this is part of the Material 3 Expressive update for the Phone by Google app on Android 16. Right now, it’s only live for beta testers through the Play Store. According to Google, the tweaks are based on real-world feedback. Sure, it’s technically still in testing, but odds are this updated Phone app will roll out to everyone sooner rather than later.