Google Phone app may soon show WhatsApp call history and get shortcut for video calls

Google may be testing two new features for its Phone app. The Google Phone app reportedly now shows WhatsApp call history integrated with normal calls. Some users have also seen a new video call shortcut on the Conversations screen that redirects the conversation to Google Meet. These new features appear to have been rolled out to a small group of users who signed up for the tech giant’s Android Beta program. Recently, the company released several new features for Google Drive as well.

The two features were collectively reported by 9to5Google based on posts by other users on X (formerly known as Twitter). The report claims that the feature has started appearing on Pixel phones and some other devices. WhatsApp call history feature was spotted by user @Kishore9196 who also published a screenshot of his call history.

The call logs in the Google Phone app can be seen in the screenshot. One particular call was marked as “WhatsApp” where the operator and channel information is displayed. All other usual options including call, video call, messages and history were also visible in the log. This indicates that Google may be working on creating an integrated call log, but it is not known if the support is only extended to WhatsApp or if other messaging apps like Telegram and Signal will also be included.

Responding to a comment, the user also confirmed that he is a beta tester and using Google Phone v124.0.608164421-publicbeta and Whatsapp 2.24.6.6. Interestingly, the integrated call log feature has been available in iOS for quite some time.

The second feature was shared by advisor Mishaal Rahman with other users confirming it. Rahman said: “The Phone by Google app is starting to show a new ‘video calling’ chip during phone calls for some users. Tapping this chip opens a page that lets you quickly invite the person you’re calling to a Google Meet conversation.” The feature was spotted on the Google Pixel 5a while it was also running a beta version of the Phone app. While the app already allows users to have Google Meet calls, this shortcut apparently allows users to switch to the video calling app while on the chat screen.