The big update to Contacts v3.0 brought with it a significant visual refresh to the Material theme Google has been adopting over the last few months. The latest update to v3.1 continues on that trajectory with more visual adjustments that tune the look even further. Not only does this update sport a few fresh graphics, there's also the start of a new feature that can clear interaction data.
What's New
Unofficial Changelog: (the stuff we found)
- Cosmetic updates
Even more visual tweaks
Left: v3.0. Right: v3.1.
The biggest visual change is to the navigation drawer, which has thrown out the backdrop image from your Google+ profile. The background is now white from top to bottom.
If you look at the highlighted row, there's also a rounded end on the indicator rather than a straight line running the full width of the line. And if you're really nitpicky about details, you may notice some of the icons shrunk by a pixel or two.
The account selector also looks pretty different. Instead of taking over the full height of the drawer, it now just pushes everything else down. Accounts have been expanded to show both the name of the account and the email address, rather than just the address. Plus, Google has removed the counter for the number of contacts contained in a given account.
I also want to quickly point out that the Contacts team made changes to some of the color choices that bothered me in the v3.0 update. Note: some of these adjustments were made in minor updates, and others happened with the bump to v3.1.
Left: v3.0. Right: v3.1.
Colors for auto-generated thumbnails were shifted to white text on a solid background color, which drops the pastels that had become prevalent in the last version. This will probably blend better when a dark mode becomes available. The FAB also regained its blue color so it now stands out on the interface rather than looking like just another icon.
Left: v3.0. Right: v3.1.
Teardown
Disclaimer: Teardowns are based on evidence found inside of apks (Android's application package) and are necessarily speculative and usually based on incomplete information. It's possible that the guesses made here are wrong or inaccurate. Even when predictions are correct, there is always a chance that products could change or may be canceled. Much like rumors, nothing is certain until it's officially announced and released.
The features discussed below are probably not live yet, or may only be live for a small percentage of users. Unless stated otherwise, don't expect to see these features if you install the apk. All screenshots and images are real unless otherwise stated, and images are only altered to remove personal information.
Erasing interaction data
If security and privacy are of the utmost concern to you, there's a chance you may not want prying eyes to be able to tell how frequently you're getting in touch with some of the people you know. This is data that the Contacts app keeps track of so it can give informed suggestions, and other apps can tap into this data to some extent. If you want to get rid of historical data, it looks like it will be possible. New text hints at a simple command for clearing the interaction data on your phone.
Download
The APK is signed by Google and upgrades your existing app. The cryptographic signature guarantees that the file is safe to install and was not tampered with in any way. Rather than wait for Google to push this download to your devices, which can take days, download and install it just like any other APK.