Google tests a more compact search bar in its native Contacts app

Google tests a more compact search bar in its native Contacts app،

Google is once again experimenting with the UI of its native Contacts app. Following a previous leak where the app's single-touch page appeared to have a cleaner view, a new tweak has been discovered… but this time it targets the top search bar.

In keeping with the spirit of spring cleaning and decluttering, Google has a minor redesign in the works for the Contacts app's top search bar, where the account switcher and “Add Contact” button are set aside. It's a small change, but the whole change seems very close to the Play Store.

Google is testing a more compact search bar in its native Contacts app

Image credit: TheSPAndroid

It's not yet a publicly available change, as it's carefully hidden behind hidden flags, the kind you need a rooted Android to enable. The scoop comes courtesy of AssembleDebug on TheSpAndroidwho discovered several of these UI changes over the past few weeks.

This is a work in progress that could be dead by next week, as Google appears to be experimenting with different models at once and could reject one in favor of the other at any time. However, the question remains whether this is just part of a larger overhaul or perhaps a complete overhaul of the Contacts app. Contacts isn't exactly an app that one frequently opens as a standalone app, but it's primarily where your contacts live and are accessed through other apps.

Given this, one tends to wonder whether Google spending time on this redesign signals a larger change. Maybe there's a new feature in the works that warrants changing UI elements? This wouldn't be completely out of character considering that Google I/O is upon us, and that's when Google typically announces upcoming features for the next version of Android. It's fun to speculate, and we're only a few weeks away from hopefully finding out what Google has in store for the Contacts app.