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ZDNET's key takeaways
Google's new Calling Cards make Android calls feel more personal.
The feature lets Pixel users customize full-screen contact images.
Calling Cards don't back up yet, so setups won't transfer to new phones.
As a lifelong Android user, I've noticed over the years how incoming calls on my iPhone friends' devices were inviting, full-screen experiences. The contact image fills the screen, the person's face takes over the device, and somehow that makes the incoming call feel a bit more human. Not to mention, it makes it easy to glance at who's on the other end of the line before answering.
On Android, it's often been a small circle avatar surrounded by a bunch of empty space, much more utilitarian and fitting for Android as a whole, but lacking any real dynamic beyond that.
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Back in the early days of Android, this gap was even worse. You could upload high-resolution photos for your contacts, but the system would compress them into muddy, low-resolution squares that pixelated like crazy when a call came in. It's been a long-standing sore spot of mine, which is why Google's recent Calling Card feature makes me so happy.
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