For clarity, this is the default Contact-storing application for Android. And chips are squared-oval-shaped UI elements that, in this case, filter those contacts when tapped. Chips themselves are nothing new, having already been introduced in Gmail and elsewhere in Google apps. But their appearance in Google Contacts is novel.
What are the new chip-style filters in Google Contacts?
In Google Contacts, the chip filters work a bit differently from how they do in Gmail, though. And that may come down to the fact that Gmail itself has plenty of filtering options already in place on both mobile and the web. For Contacts, the UI offers options such as filtering by phone or email contacts. They also show options for filtering by “Companies” as shown in the image below. And there are likely more as well since the image itself doesn’t show the full strip of options. The first two options are presumably to show only phone numbers or emails. Or, conversely, may show contacts that were added by phone or email. The “Companies” option most likely sorts contacts by which company the contact is associated with. Other options may be available as well. Although it isn’t clear whether Google is showing options based on a recommendations algorithm or if the options shown are going to be universal.
When will you see the new options?
As pointed out above, however, the change isn’t necessarily going to be available for everybody. At the very least, not yet. This is potentially a feature that Google is only just starting to try out more broadly in small test groups. Or it could be one that is slated to arrive for everybody but slowly in order to keep an eye out for bugs during the rollout. This change is simply the latest in a slew of ongoing changes across Google apps, including Contacts.
