Google could be testing a new layout for the Phone app

Google appears to be tinkering around with the layout of its Phone app. It appears the Android app could gain a hamburger-style menu icon and lose the bottom bar.

PiunikaWeb, in collaboration with AssembleDebug, discovered a change to the Phone app in the public beta version 128.0.625763929. That change introduces a hamburger menu icon to the search bar on the top of the page.

When the icon is tapped, a panel pops out from the side and provides a list of options. However, the panel is fairly empty as it only contains two options: Contacts and Voicemail.

It’s a little strange to dedicate an entire panel to so few items. There’s a possibility that Google is simply testing out this new layout without plans to roll it out publicly. But there’s always a chance we could see it release sometime down the road.

Since the panel serves as the place were you can find all of the app’s important features, it eliminates the need for the bottom bar in the current version of the app. As such, this new layout removes the bottom bar.

This new menu wasn’t the only thing that was discovered while investigating the app. It appears AssembleDebug also found a string of code that adds permission for users to use the emergency satellite feature Android 15 will bring to Android devices. As we reported earlier, this feature is called “Emergency SOS,” which allows the user to connect with emergency services via satellite.