Pixel Vips Dreaming of the Android conversations widget

This week, Pixel Vips has become the last (exclusive) application designed for Google Phones. He follows the big trio that we obtained last year with screenshots, studios and weather conditions, as well as the camera, size, recorder, thermometer and advice.

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Pixel VIPS does not have a home screen icon and how you configure it is via Google Contacts. This dependence on the application of contacts is a bit strange and makes VIPS feel like a kind of extension.

Then, a widget is how to access the pixel vips grid of circular contact photos. (Nitpick: Three of my VIPs have longer names that extend on two lines. The fourth is shorter and does not do it for a very boring look.)

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The tapping on a person reveals half a feathery, with their circular contact photo which exceeds. The slide to become full screen is quite smooth, with the visually interesting flow thanks to the different forms of card. Overall, it is a well -designed experience.

Pixel Vips brings together various services:

• Last connection: Google Phone, Messages and Whatsapp
• Local updates: Google Maps / Find Hub, Google Weather

VIPS is directly responsible for notes and “things to do together”, which uses Google research and probably cards. The possibility of leaving punctual notes on contact is excellent and something that I already use. This is replacing the way I use Google Keep to note things that I want to talk to friends of the person / by phone. The arrangement of the cards is quite pleasant and as to keep.

Meanwhile, the content, the location and the food recommendations remind me of a social network so much, with the latest connection and the local updates that register.

It also recalls the Android conversations widget. In 2020, Google made “people and conversations” an Android 11 trading, correctly identifying how “communicating with your friends and colleagues is the most important thing that many people do on their phones”. This manifested as the “Conversations” section of the notification shade which could open chat leaders, as well as specifying which were “priorities”. Everything was in the vein of the webos synergy and the center of the people of Windows Phone.

Google said people and conversations were a “multi -year Android initiative that aims to raise people and conversations in the phone’s system.” Android 12 saw the conversations widget to “promote user interaction by allowing them to easily open cats on the home screen”. Instead of your last cat, Google imagined the widget showing various activities:

• Birthday: “Represent that the user of the conversation and the user of the device celebrate a birthday today.”
• Audio: “Representing that the user of the conversation listens to music or other audio like a podcast.”
• Birthday: “Representing this today is the birthday of the conversation user.”
• Game: “Representing that the user of the conversation plays a game.”
• Location: “Representing that the user of the conversation shares the state with the user of the device.”
• New story: “Represent that the user of the conversation has published a new story.”
• Video: “Representing that the user of the conversation looks at video content.”
• Status: That a person was available, busy or offline

This has seen a minimum of membership of developers. The absence of third -party support is understandable because the applications want to have the whole experience, but Google should have leverage and YouTube cards.

VIPS does a large part of what Android wanted to do in 2021 on a smaller scale for the pixel. We will just have to see how long this initiative lasts.