We use Google Contacts on our phones daily without giving it much thought. Google has seamlessly integrated this contact management tool with third-party communication apps, making it incredibly user-friendly, often underappreciated for how effortless it is. However, Google has an exciting opportunity to further enhance the app’s functionality by improving its integration with other apps in an upcoming update.
Currently, when you want to make a video call using Google Contacts, it either automatically uses carrier video calling or makes you go through a lot of hoops to open a new program. In order to add a third-party app to contact, go to their details and expand the “Connected apps” area. But that could change.
Users will soon be able to designate a default app for video conversations, according to a new feature being tested by Google for Google Contacts (via Android Authority). You may immediately access a third-party app like WhatsApp and avoid carrier-driven calls. Your Google Contacts version is 4.46.53.705303683.
How Google Contacts is Making Video Calling More Seamless?
An APK breakdown of the beta shows how this could work. Pressing and holding the video call icon on contact will bring you the option to choose the default video calling app. After making a selection, the icon for the chosen app will take the place of the default carrier icon on the contact page of that person. This implies that the default app you’ve chosen will be used whenever you initiate a video call with that specific contact.
With a long press of the button, all the video calling possibilities will be displayed, making it easier to select a contact with numerous numbers. If the chosen app (like WhatsApp in the US) does not have the desired contact available, the system will show a network bar indicator to let you know that the video call will be redirected to a carrier-driven one.
This isn’t a major shift at all. However, it greatly enhances the user experience. We can make third-party apps work more smoothly by making one app our default for video calling contacts. After all, messaging apps like Telegram, WhatsApp, Zoom, and Messenger have taken over. Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams are the most popular professional video conferencing apps at the moment, whereas Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp are the most popular video chat apps in the US.
At this time, these changes are not available in Google Contacts. However, they might come within the next year. If you want to use a third-party video talking app from the Google Contacts app until then, you’ll have to keep doing extra things.
