As a part of this month’s Pixel Drop, Google shared that it was updating the Pixel VIPs widget with new functionality and an improved look. This widget previously felt quite a bit underdeveloped, so we were curious how big the improvements were. As it turns it, pretty big!
When Google announced this significant update to Pixel VIPs, they didn’t actually show us what it would look like and instead only offered a description of the changes. It all sounded lovely, they just didn’t exactly pony-up the details we wanted, like when it might hit our devices.
Here’s what they said:
Stay seamlessly connected to your VIP contacts. With newly designed, expanded widget options, you can use quick actions to send a call or text to your VIP contacts with a single tap straight from your home screen. New, glanceable notification badges ensure you never miss an urgent or unread message, and you can also switch effortlessly between VIPs using the bottom floating menu.
Earlier in the week, Google began pushing an update to the Pixel VIPs app (2.0.970991143-20260825) through Google Play, but it then slowly flipped a server-side switch to the new version starting yesterday. We have it already on a Pixel 11 Pro, and it appears that others are now seeing it as well.
The new Pixel VIPs widget can still show up to 8 different contacts, but you don’t really get the new experience at that many. The sweet spot appears to be 4, where a 3×2 or 4×2 shows you the new goods. As you can see above, those two options, we now get bigger mini cards for each contact, as well as shortcuts to call and message the person.
The other update here is the introduction of little notification dots when you have a message or missed called from a person. To get those, you’ll need to enable the option to “See messages on your widget.” Once updated, you should see a notice on the widget that will show you the pop-up we included below.
Everyone get it?
Google Play Link: Pixel VIPs
