Portrait of a woman enjoying her birthday, holding a cake, and celebrating with friends over a video call
Soon Google will make sure you never forget your birthday again. The Contacts app on Android smartphones has received an update in which those birthdays are well marked.
The Contacts app has received more updates from Google in recent months. For example, the app got a widget in the new app material youStyle from Google. It is also possible to add contacts from any Google Workspaces application. As a result, you can put a new contact directly into your phonebook from, for example, Google Calendar.
In this phone book, Google has also made room for a section with “highlights”: the contacts you call most frequently and those you yourself have marked as favorites. The For You tab appeared with the latest app update. It displays the birthdays of all your contacts – if you click on one of these contacts, you’ll instantly get the option to call them or send them a message.
straight to the phone
However, not everyone with an Android phone uses the Contacts app. Many people open the phone app and choose who they want to call. The new functionality also reminds us of what Google Assistant can do today: you can also get a reminder of someone’s birthday from the digital assistant.
The change seems to indicate that Google wants to increase its use of Contacts. Official usage numbers aren’t available, but that green phone call often gets you in touch with someone faster than your address book. It remains to be seen if the new post will do anything about it.
Don’t see your contacts’ birthdays yet? Then you will have to wait a while. Google is rolling out the new update gradually. In the meantime, you can try refreshing the Contacts app and adding birthdays to your contacts — if left blank, you won’t see any birthdays in the For You tab either.
