In a move reversing its 2025 revamp, Google’s Phone app is reintroducing a dedicated Contacts tab at the bottom of the screen. That tab is reappearing between Home and Keypad in the Phone by Google beta, restoring the quick-access navigation users lost when the Contacts section was demoted earlier. The feature is now rolling out to beta users on version 243, though it hasn’t hit the stable channel yet.
Why Contacts Got Buried—and Why It’s Back
Last August, Google simplified the Phone app’s navigation to just three main tabs: Home, Keypad, and Voicemail. Contacts was removed from the bottom bar and moved into the navigation drawer. A Favorites carousel at the top of the Home feed was also intended for contact quick access. Many found the new layout cumbersome, especially since Contacts was something people tapped on often. The new beta restores Contacts to its own position in the bottom nav, and the drawer shortcut has been removed. Users still have the Favorites carousel in Home as an alternative way to reach their contacts.
To get the new tab, users must be running version 243 of Phone by Google in the beta channel. Even then, it’s a server-side feature: some beta testers will have to manually “Force stop” the app if Contacts hasn’t appeared after updating. The stable channel is still waiting on the change.
What This Means
The re-added Contacts tab reflects how frequently people rely on their address books—making that feature too important to hide behind menus. This tweak shows Google adjusting to user feedback: in many interface redesigns among apps, over-simplifying or hiding core functions tends to backfire.
It’s worth noting that Google’s rollout strategy—beta first, server-side flag, optional force-stop—is typical of its approach to testing UI changes. Users who depend on stable software won’t see this until the update passes through more rigorous testing.
Ultimately, restoring the Contacts tab should improve usability for frequent users. If this holds up through beta, the stable release may follow soon with the same layout. For now, anyone using the beta and missing Contacts from the bottom nav should check if they’re on version 243 and consider force-stopping the app after the update.
Why this matters: UI changes in essential apps like Phone affect daily user flow. When a major function like Contacts is hidden, users notice—and often push back. This flip-flop shows Google listens, but also illustrates the risks of design experiments: balance matters. Watch to see how the stable release handles this, and whether other buried features get rescued based on feedback.
