Google's Phone app could make resuming on-hold calls easier (APK teardown)
TL;DR Google is testing a new 'Unhold' shortcut in call notifications through its Phone app.
The new button replaces the 'Mute' button whenever a user puts a call on hold.
Although not yet live, this change would improve usability by allowing users to resume held calls more efficiently.
Google doesn't mess around that much with the Google Phone app. It makes sense too, as you don't want to disturb muscle memory for people for crucial tasks like calls. But every now and then, the company reassesses what users expect from the Phone app. Recently, Google began rolling out the Phone app's Material 3 Expressive redesign and new interfaces for the incoming call screen to beta users. We've now spotted Google working on a helpful button swap in the ongoing call notification, which will be useful for people who often put calls on hold.
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An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
On Android phones that use the Google Phone app, you get a notification whenever you receive a call. This notification lets you accept or decline the call, and it turns into an ongoing call notification if you accept the call. The ongoing call notification gives users the buttons to hang up, put the call on speaker, or mute their phone's microphone right from the notification itself, which is very handy if you switch out of the main call screen.
The ongoing call notification doesn't give you an option, but users can also put the call on hold on the main call screen. If you do so and then switch out of the main call screen, you don't get an option to unhold and resume the call until you switch back to the main call screen.
Google Phone v184.0 beta includes code for a new Unhold button in the ongoing call notification that appears during ongoing calls. Using this button, users can unhold and resume calls straight from the ongoing call notification without switching back to the main call screen. We managed to activate the feature to give you an early look:
Current options during ongoing call
Current options when call is put on hold
Upcoming options when call is put on hold
The current screenshots show the usual options we see during a call, which remain the same even when a call is put on hold. In the future, when you put a call on hold, you will see a new Unhold button that replaces the Mute button. Tapping on it will unhold and resume the call. The button swap makes sense since muting a call that is already on hold effectively does nothing, and a user is much more likely to want to unhold and resume in that situation.
Curiously, as you may have noticed, there is no way to put the call on hold through the notification. You will still have to initiate the action from the main call screen. It would be nice if Google allowed users to choose between a mute button and a hold button in the ongoing call notification.
Note that this unhold button is not currently live for users. We'll keep you updated when we learn more.
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