Stephen Headrick / Android Authority
I was so excited to try out one of the headlining features of Google’s latest Pixel Drop. “Was” is the keyword here, unfortunately. One of the biggest features, prominently displayed in all the marketing for this update, is Pixel VIPs, a feature promised to help you keep up with those you care about most in the most convenient way possible. I’ve tried out this sort of relationship management app in the past, and I was excited at the idea of a lighter-weight approach that’s also more deeply integrated into my device. My experience, though, didn’t live up to the promise.
Do you like Pixel's new VIP widget? 10 votes Yes, I'm using it all the time. 0 % It's ok, but can be improved. 30 % Tried it, didn't like it, removed it. 30 % Wait, there's a new VIP widget?! 40 %
Where’s the widget? First, there was the confusion around finding the feature. Like Pixel Screenshots and Pixel Studio, which both arrived last year, VIPs appeared to be a new Pixel-exclusive app. Well, it is and it isn’t. Technically, it’s a standalone APK, but it doesn’t appear as its own icon in the launcher. Instead, it’s a widget in the Contacts app and an extension of the Highlights tab that you could already use. I always found this tab to be useful for seeing upcoming birthdays among my contacts. While the new VIPs widget feels like a perfect extension of this tab, it simply wasn’t made very clear where to find it. Maybe I was just too eager to try it out and missed something in the details of the announcement, but I saw others across the web who were equally as confused.
As for the widget itself, well, it’s…underwhelming. I want to love this feature, I really do, and there are some really useful parts that we’ll talk about in a moment, but if I’m going to put a widget on my home screen, I want it to look good. When Google is hyping up a new feature in all its marketing, I expect it to have an excellent design. But let’s be real: widgets on Pixels need some work.
Google wants better widgets, then releases this
Google According to Google, "Tier 1 widgets that, from the top left, properly crop content, fill the layout bounds, have appropriately sized headers and touch targets, and make good use of colors and contrast."
Just a few months ago, Google seemed poised for a widget renaissance on Android. In March, it introduced Widget Quality Tiers, seemingly acknowledging the need for widget improvements on this platform. So when I saw a widget featured in the announcements for a brand new update, I was eager to try it out to see if it met that new high bar.
My excitement was met with reality after updating my phone. The first issue that sticks out to me is the design of the VIPs widget itself. This is probably the most disappointing part of all. After Google’s newly announced Material 3 Expressive, in addition to the recent announcements about widget quality, I was hopeful of a thoughtfully designed widget. Instead, I was met with yet another widget that I’d hesitate to keep on my second or third screen, let alone on my home screen.
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