Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The Google Pixel VIPs app is now available on the Play Store for some Pixel phone owners.
- The app reveals more details about the upcoming Pixel VIPs home screen widget.
- Unfortunately, you can’t access the actual Pixel VIPs widget after downloading this app.
We uncovered the existence of a Pixel VIPs widget back in January. This widget centralizes all sorts of info from your preferred contacts in a home screen widget. Now, it looks like the feature is available to Pixel phone owners — well, sort of.
The Pixel VIPs app listing is showing up on the Google Play Store for some Pixel owners, and we’re able to see this on our own Pixel phones as well. Users can also tap the “update” button and install it. Check out the screenshots below.
“Quickly and easily connect with the people who matter most to you. See your last call and message with them, their real-time location, activity suggestions, and more,” reads an excerpt of the app listing. “Your VIPs can also bypass Do Not Disturb, so you never miss a moment.”
We also previously uncovered evidence that the feature supports up to eight contacts, birthday reminders, and notes functionality for a contact. Furthermore, we discovered that WhatsApp integration was also in the works. So this certainly seems like a robust widget and feature.
Unfortunately, updating the app doesn’t actually enable the Pixel VIPs widget right now. So we’ll likely have to wait for an additional update or server-side change to access the feature. Nevertheless, the app listing suggests that we won’t have to wait too long.
