Google Phone app’s Calling Cards are now rolling out widely: Here’s what you need to know

Google looked at what Apple is doing with iOS’ Contact Posters and figured Android users also need a similar feature. Enter Calling Cards from the Google Contacts app, a personalized calling screen that uses full-screen images to bring life to your contacts. We spotted Calling Cards first in June, and the beta rollout for the feature began two weeks ago. Now, Calling Cards are widely rolling out to users in the stable branch of the Phone app so that everyone can enjoy this new experience.

Google says Phone app users worldwide will now see the new Calling Card feature when they update the app to v188 or later. The experience is rolling out in phases, so if you don’t have it yet, you just have to be a bit patient, and you will eventually receive it on your phone.

With Calling Cards, users can set a full-screen photo for their contacts that will appear on their phone for all incoming and outgoing calls. There’s plenty of room for personalization here, as you can stylize the name with different fonts, sizes, and colors. You can also choose custom backgrounds, with options available from the Google Photo Picker, Camera, or Phone Album.

Google notes that users can customize their personal Calling Card through the Dialer or Contacts settings. Further, they can add unique Calling Cards for all their contact entries, including friends and family.

On the face of it, Calling Cards does look like a straight rip-off of iOS’ Contact Posters, but there’s one big difference. iOS lets you set your own Contact Poster and customize what your contact page will look like on others’ phones when you call them. On the other hand, Calling Cards on Android are what you can set for all the contacts in your phone book, and how they would appear on your device during calls. You have to set up Calling Cards for each of your contacts individually, and you cannot set up your own Calling Card.

There’s merit in this difference of approach. While Contact Posters on iOS have generally been well received, there are reports of people using (contextually) inappropriate pictures (1, 2, 3, 4) as their Contact Posters, which appear on others’ phones and can create issues. Google’s Calling Cards gives you ultimate control over a contact’s appearance on your phone.

Calling Cards aren’t the only changes rolling out, though. With the Phone app update, users in the stable branch are also widely getting the new swipe interface for accepting and declining calls. Once a call is accepted, users are also getting a larger End Call button.

To some people, the new interface looks like a…cow. Yup, cannot unsee now.

Google has also merged Recents and Favorites pages into a new Home page. Your favorite contacts are prominently displayed at the top of the page, while your call history is listed below them. The Keypad has also graduated from a floating action button into its own permanent tab. All these changes were previously spotted in the beta branch, so this is a broad rollout in the stable branch.

My colleague Joe Maring loves all the new changes coming to the Google Phone app, and a vast majority of our readers agree with him. But such sweeping changes can affect the muscle memory of people who still use their phone as a phone. Chances are that less technologically-inclined people in your life may not be big fans of these changes. So if you’re feeling generous, you should take some time out and call them up to explain how these changes work — they’ll appreciate the help, and you’ll also get a chance to check in on them.