Google now lets you set illustrated profile pictures for your phone contacts

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Have you ever been irritated to see those grey icons next to most of your favourite contacts on your Android phone? Unless the contact was created on your Google account and the other person set a profile picture, the Contacts app on Android has long shown a grey icon. You could set a custom photo by editing but what if you wanted a fun illustration to depict them? Thankfully, someone at Google had the same idea and now allows you to set an illustration as the contact's profile picture in Google Contacts app.

It was available earlier in Gmail and it is now available in Google Contacts app. The option comes up while choosing a profile picture, wherein users can now choose from a curated collection of illustrations from Google. The collections include animals, cities and places, food, hobbies and interests, nature, and sports and recreation, which are the same as the one available on Gmail. However, more illustrations have been made available under these categories.

Note that you can choose the specific part of the illustration as your contact profile photo. Google is also using a smart crop tool to suggest a suitable composition, which you can quickly pick as a preset.

The update has just hit Google Contacts and should reach all Android devices running the latest version of Contacts app. Those who are eager to try it out should keep an eye on the Google Play Store for the latest updates on the Google Contacts app.

The Google Messages app also got a new floating button for starting a new chat with a contact in the last update. Google also introduced a new Highlight tab in the Contacts app that sits between the “contacts” and Fix & Manage” tabs on the bottom bar.