Google Contacts widget now shows message notifications, shared location

Following the initial rollout last month, Google Contacts is making official the ability to see message notifications on the widget.

The “What’s new” section, which was updated with version 4.34 today, on the Google Play listing explains how you can “See and respond to notifications from certain apps on the contact widget.” Place an “Individual contact” widget on your homescreen and you’ll see a notification bell icon in the top-right corner. 

After granting notification access, messages will appear on the widget, which can be resized. You see the message and any Smart Reply suggestions. Only one recent message can appear, but the widget notes when there are multiple responses.

Meanwhile, this widget also lets you “See shared location from Google Maps.” This takes the form of their current neighborhood/city and is displayed across the full profile image. When tapped, it corresponds to the Map card that appears in full contact pages. 

The last new addition is how you can “Set a time of day for when you receive significant date reminders.” To do this, go to the Organize tab > Reminders. On the date page, you’ll see a new option to set the time at the bottom.

Meanwhile, Google looks to have rolled back replacing the FAB with a ‘plus’ button in the top-right corner of the app. Another layout tested adding the FAB to the “Highlights” and “Organize” tabs so that creation was available app-wide. In recent weeks, both design experiments were reverted.

More on Google Contacts:

• Google Contacts rolling out ‘Organize’ tab to replace ‘Fix & manage’
• Google Contacts will make it easier and faster to add a new contact [Gallery]
• Google Contacts rolling out redesign that removes navigation drawer