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‘Phone’ app renamed to ‘Phone by Google’ on the Play Store

Somewhat overshadowed by the launch of Android 11, Google at the start of this month brought its Phone app to non-Pixel devices and added a new “Verified Calls” capability. To coincide with this launch, the app is now called “Phone by Google” on the Play Store.

The Google Play listing for this app has long just named it “Phone.” It’s now officially: “Phone by Google – Caller ID & Spam Protection.” The latter portion is a clear move to attract people looking through the app store by immediately highlighting key capabilities and differentiators. Many when searching through results are hooked by the app name and icon to dig deeper.

Adding “by Google” is a fairly standard move for the company. Other applications with this naming scheme: Files, Wear OS, PhotoScan, Gallery Go, Read Along, Lookout, and Socratic.

There is no change to the actual app name that appears on your homescreen or launcher. Meanwhile, the “Phone by Google” tagline was used to advertise the original Pixel and Pixel XL as a way to familiarize people with the company’s new brand.

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Moving forward, it would be interesting to see whether “Messages” gets the same treatment. It was previously “Android Messages,” but after dropping the OS name it more or less became Google Messages. Like the Phone client, it has wide availability as the default RCS client for many phones.

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com

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