I'm moving from my old Android 11 phone to Android 15.
I used the Contacts widget to create direct dial icons on my home page
in Android 11. There's no Contacts entry in Widgets on my new Android
15 phone. Help! :-)
Can one somehow get Contacts widgets added? Or is there another way
to get 'direct calling' icons (i.e. an icon to tap which calls the
associated number)?
I'm moving from my old Android 11 phone to Android 15.
I used the Contacts widget to create direct dial icons on my home page
in Android 11. There's no Contacts entry in Widgets on my new Android
15 phone. Help! :-)
Can one somehow get Contacts widgets added? Or is there another way
to get 'direct calling' icons (i.e. an icon to tap which calls the
associated number)?
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
I'm moving from my old Android 11 phone to Android 15.
I used the Contacts widget to create direct dial icons on my home page
in Android 11. There's no Contacts entry in Widgets on my new Android
15 phone. Help! :-)
Can one somehow get Contacts widgets added? Or is there another way
to get 'direct calling' icons (i.e. an icon to tap which calls the associated number)?
I go into the Contacts app (that was bundled on my Android 15 phone, now updated to 16), open a contact in the list, and tap the 3-button menu
icon where one of the choices is "Add contact to Home screen". Then you
get to select the shortcut type: Direct Dial (dial their phone number), Direct Message (send them a text), or View contact info (open the
contact record in the Contacts app). Then you're presented with a
bubble window telling you to tap and hold the 1x1 icon to drag to the
home screen.
Instead of using a widget, I used the Phone app itself to create a
shortcut to a contact.
An online search finds other suggestions, so you need to try which ones
work on your phone. I have a Samsung Galaxy A36 phone, so their Phone
app could have different features than whatever unidentified brand and
model you have.
Xaiomi Redmi A5
Android 15
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Xaiomi Redmi A5
Android 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA06DIEwYow
That video is for Xiaomi's MIUI 12.5.4. You have Android 15, but which
MIUI screen manager do you have? I think the latest is MIUI 14, but
that depends on phone model and region, and after which Xiaomi changed
to HyperOS. Xiaomi also varied the feature sets on its phone based of
region for distribution; see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIUI#Comparison_of_all_MIUI_variants
Even HyperOS has variations based of region of distribution.
According to https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redmi_a5_4g-13737.php, the
Redmi A5 was released March 21, 2025. Not sure which screen manager you
now have on that phone. HyperOS 2 came out Oct 2024, so your Redmi A5
might have MIUI 14 or HyperOS 2. HyperOS3 came out Aug 2025, so too
late for when the Redmi A5 was released.
You said you were looking for a Contacts widget. From the Youtube
video, looks like the widgets are not sorted by name, so you may have to scroll around a lot to find it.
Is the Contacts app the one bundled by Xiaomi, or someone else's?
VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Xaiomi Redmi A5
Android 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA06DIEwYow
That video is for Xiaomi's MIUI 12.5.4. You have Android 15, but which MIUI screen manager do you have? I think the latest is MIUI 14, but
that depends on phone model and region, and after which Xiaomi changed
to HyperOS. Xiaomi also varied the feature sets on its phone based of region for distribution; see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIUI#Comparison_of_all_MIUI_variants
Even HyperOS has variations based of region of distribution.
According to https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redmi_a5_4g-13737.php, the Redmi A5 was released March 21, 2025. Not sure which screen manager you now have on that phone. HyperOS 2 came out Oct 2024, so your Redmi A5 might have MIUI 14 or HyperOS 2. HyperOS3 came out Aug 2025, so too
late for when the Redmi A5 was released.
You said you were looking for a Contacts widget. From the Youtube
video, looks like the widgets are not sorted by name, so you may have to scroll around a lot to find it.
Is the Contacts app the one bundled by Xiaomi, or someone else's?
version 1.0.3.2
com.android.contacts
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:I see that the 'real' Google Contacts app is at version 4.72.x.x,
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Xaiomi Redmi A5
Android 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA06DIEwYow
That video is for Xiaomi's MIUI 12.5.4. You have Android 15, but which
MIUI screen manager do you have? I think the latest is MIUI 14, but
that depends on phone model and region, and after which Xiaomi changed
to HyperOS. Xiaomi also varied the feature sets on its phone based of
region for distribution; see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIUI#Comparison_of_all_MIUI_variants
Even HyperOS has variations based of region of distribution.
According to https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redmi_a5_4g-13737.php, the
Redmi A5 was released March 21, 2025. Not sure which screen manager you >>> now have on that phone. HyperOS 2 came out Oct 2024, so your Redmi A5
might have MIUI 14 or HyperOS 2. HyperOS3 came out Aug 2025, so too
late for when the Redmi A5 was released.
You said you were looking for a Contacts widget. From the Youtube
video, looks like the widgets are not sorted by name, so you may have to >>> scroll around a lot to find it.
Is the Contacts app the one bundled by Xiaomi, or someone else's?
version 1.0.3.2
com.android.contacts
that's what I have on my tablet and my old Android 11 phone. If I
install Google Contacts (which will be version 4.72.x.x) from Play
Store is it, firstly, likely to work and, secondly, likely to fix my
problem?
I do have adb set up and working with this new phone but I'm a bit
wary of using it to remove and install apps. I'm very familiar with
doing technical stuff in Linux but not with Android.
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:I see that the 'real' Google Contacts app is at version 4.72.x.x,
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Xaiomi Redmi A5
Android 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA06DIEwYow
That video is for Xiaomi's MIUI 12.5.4. You have Android 15, but which >>> MIUI screen manager do you have? I think the latest is MIUI 14, but
that depends on phone model and region, and after which Xiaomi changed >>> to HyperOS. Xiaomi also varied the feature sets on its phone based of >>> region for distribution; see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIUI#Comparison_of_all_MIUI_variants
Even HyperOS has variations based of region of distribution.
According to https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redmi_a5_4g-13737.php, the >>> Redmi A5 was released March 21, 2025. Not sure which screen manager you >>> now have on that phone. HyperOS 2 came out Oct 2024, so your Redmi A5 >>> might have MIUI 14 or HyperOS 2. HyperOS3 came out Aug 2025, so too
late for when the Redmi A5 was released.
You said you were looking for a Contacts widget. From the Youtube
video, looks like the widgets are not sorted by name, so you may have to >>> scroll around a lot to find it.
Is the Contacts app the one bundled by Xiaomi, or someone else's?
version 1.0.3.2
com.android.contacts
that's what I have on my tablet and my old Android 11 phone. If I
install Google Contacts (which will be version 4.72.x.x) from Play
Store is it, firstly, likely to work and, secondly, likely to fix my problem?
I do have adb set up and working with this new phone but I'm a bit
wary of using it to remove and install apps. I'm very familiar with
doing technical stuff in Linux but not with Android.
You can install the Google Contacts app while keeping the bundled
Contacts app. Go into Android settings for default apps to pick the
Google app, or the Google Contacts app may have a setting to make it the default contacts app. If you don't like the Google Contacts apps, you
can uninstall it. However, you probably cannot uninstall the bundled Contacts app unless you jump through hoops (aka ADB). Sorry, I don't
know if Google Contacts app will share the contacts from the bundled
Contacts app.
VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:I see that the 'real' Google Contacts app is at version 4.72.x.x,
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Xaiomi Redmi A5
Android 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA06DIEwYow
That video is for Xiaomi's MIUI 12.5.4. You have Android 15, but which >>>>> MIUI screen manager do you have? I think the latest is MIUI 14, but >>>>> that depends on phone model and region, and after which Xiaomi changed >>>>> to HyperOS. Xiaomi also varied the feature sets on its phone based of >>>>> region for distribution; see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIUI#Comparison_of_all_MIUI_variants
Even HyperOS has variations based of region of distribution.
According to https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redmi_a5_4g-13737.php, the >>>>> Redmi A5 was released March 21, 2025. Not sure which screen manager you >>>>> now have on that phone. HyperOS 2 came out Oct 2024, so your Redmi A5 >>>>> might have MIUI 14 or HyperOS 2. HyperOS3 came out Aug 2025, so too >>>>> late for when the Redmi A5 was released.
You said you were looking for a Contacts widget. From the Youtube
video, looks like the widgets are not sorted by name, so you may have to >>>>> scroll around a lot to find it.
Is the Contacts app the one bundled by Xiaomi, or someone else's?
version 1.0.3.2
com.android.contacts
that's what I have on my tablet and my old Android 11 phone. If I
install Google Contacts (which will be version 4.72.x.x) from Play
Store is it, firstly, likely to work and, secondly, likely to fix my
problem?
I do have adb set up and working with this new phone but I'm a bit
wary of using it to remove and install apps. I'm very familiar with
doing technical stuff in Linux but not with Android.
You can install the Google Contacts app while keeping the bundled
Contacts app. Go into Android settings for default apps to pick the
Google app, or the Google Contacts app may have a setting to make it the
default contacts app. If you don't like the Google Contacts apps, you
can uninstall it. However, you probably cannot uninstall the bundled
Contacts app unless you jump through hoops (aka ADB). Sorry, I don't
know if Google Contacts app will share the contacts from the bundled
Contacts app.
Installing the Google Contacts app did all that I needed, I didn't
have to make it the preferred Contacts app it did that by itself when installed and it found my existing contacts. It also did the
important thing I wanted which was to provide the direct-dial widget.
It's really not worth uninstalling the bundled Cotact app, it's only
1.7Mb.
Thanks.
VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Installing the Google Contacts app did all that I needed, I didn't
have to make it the preferred Contacts app it did that by itself when installed and it found my existing contacts. It also did the
important thing I wanted which was to provide the direct-dial widget.
It's really not worth uninstalling the bundled Cotact app, it's only
1.7Mb.
On 2026-02-16 09:49, Chris Green wrote:
VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Installing the Google Contacts app did all that I needed, I didn't
have to make it the preferred Contacts app it did that by itself when installed and it found my existing contacts. It also did the
important thing I wanted which was to provide the direct-dial widget.
It's really not worth uninstalling the bundled Cotact app, it's only
1.7Mb.
It is not about the size of the app file, but the resources it uses when running.
Carlos E. R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
On 2026-02-16 09:49, Chris Green wrote:So why might it be running?
VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Installing the Google Contacts app did all that I needed, I didn't
have to make it the preferred Contacts app it did that by itself when
installed and it found my existing contacts. It also did the
important thing I wanted which was to provide the direct-dial widget.
It's really not worth uninstalling the bundled Cotact app, it's only
1.7Mb.
It is not about the size of the app file, but the resources it uses when
running.
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