Google Phone App Beta Hints at Compact Photo Option for Calling Cards

The option, labeled Compact photo, appeared in Phone by Google beta version 244.0.1001930441-publicbeta-pixel2026. Android Authority said it was able to surface an early look at the customization menu, though the feature does not function yet.

In the current design, the Calling Card customization screen would be split into two sections: Full photo, which corresponds to what users have today, and the new Compact photo entry. The Compact photo section shows four colored tiles, but no buttons for adding images from Gallery, Google Photos or Camera. Tapping the tiles produces no response at this stage.

Code strings tied to the tiles identify them as presets named Coral, Olive, Teal and Violet, the report said. The publication cautioned that the strings do not establish how the feature will behave, and that its description of a possible outcome is speculation.

One likely implementation is that a smaller Calling Card image would be shown against a solid background, so that the selected color fills the screen with a compact photo in the middle rather than an image covering the display entirely. Google could also reuse the image already assigned to the full-screen card, with the color tiles acting as one-tap buttons for changing the background.

Calling Cards currently display a full-screen image whenever a contact who has been assigned one calls, an approach similar to Apple's Contact Posters. The compact variant would address users who want a personalized card without an image taking over the whole screen each time the phone rings.

Google has not announced a release date for the option, and the beta build offers no indication of when, or whether, it will reach stable versions of the app.