It looks like Google is testing a new My Calling Card feature within the Phone by Google app to let Android users choose what other people see when they call. It’s the other half of a feature that Android Calling Cards (for some reason) failed to provide, subtly offering you the opportunity to design your own caller screen featuring one of your photos with not only typography but layout showing up on other people’s phones.
What My Calling Card shows during your phone calls
My Calling Card is a visual wrapper for phone calls. When you call someone, contacts with a compatible and up-to-date Phone by Google app are shown a personalized card including your name, selected picture, and more. Then there are the static bits: instead of a simple caller ID, you can also use it as the call screen to show a full-bleed image alongside custom font treatment and background accents so that your calls look unlike anyone else’s at a glance.
- What My Calling Card shows during your phone calls
- How setup works in the Phone by Google app step by step
- Who can see your calling card and under which conditions
- Privacy controls, visibility settings, and safety
- Compatibility, device support, and current limitations
- Why personalized caller visuals matter to Android users
Importantly, Google adds that depending on the screen size and aspect ratio your recipients may instead see your profile image in a different crop.
That’s so a photo that looks perfect on your phone also looks nearly identical, if slightly reframed, when someone else sees it on their phone — but the details at the center of your photo are always preserved.
How setup works in the Phone by Google app step by step
The setting shows as My Calling Card in the Phone by Google settings. Once enabled, you’re walked through a creator to choose a profile picture, font style, and apply color or background treatments with live previews. The card can be edited at any time to swap images, adjust typography, or update the layout.
And as you finish setting it up, you decide who can see your card: only those in your contact list or everyone you call. This visibility toggle lies at the heart of the feature, and it’s all about balancing personalization with control. Your card now lives under the My Calling Card section, where you can make quick edits as your style or role shifts.
Who can see your calling card and under which conditions
If the person you are calling has already personalized how your contact appears on their phone, that version prevails. If it does not, your My Calling Card should automatically appear. This hierarchy protects recipients’ preferences while providing you some way to visually identify yourself to new acquaintances or anyone using your entry who hasn’t customized the information.
Recipients will see your name, photo, and portions of your Google account info as described in the app. The display follows your actual visibility setting, as well as the device capabilities of your contact. If their dialer doesn’t support calling card features, all they will see is regular caller ID.
Privacy controls, visibility settings, and safety
Google’s version puts you in control: You can restrict visibility, change or delete your card whenever you want, and be protected by the same account-level safeguards that protect your profile photo. Because the feature is built on the Phone by Google app’s caller display, it does not change your phone number or how carriers route calls; it simply changes what participating devices will display when a call comes in.
Like other identity features, cautions about hygiene apply. Pick a photo and name that you’re comfortable sharing broadly if you select the “everyone” option, and bear in mind that recipients can still override your design on their end.
Compatibility, device support, and current limitations
My Calling Card is showing up in beta builds of the Phone by Google app and could arrive through a gradual rollout courtesy of app updates or server-side intervention. It will reportedly work on devices that have the Google dialer set as the default, so Pixel phones and many other Android phones from companies that ship Google’s phone app preinstalled. Phones that have manufacturer dialers, such as several models from Samsung, might not display calling cards if their dialer does not support the feature.
Presenting occurs in software on your recipient’s device; both parties see the best results when they’re on recent Android builds and using Phone by Google, the native dialer app. If either end is not supported, the call will simply degrade back to normal caller ID, with no quality or connectivity impact.
Why personalized caller visuals matter to Android users
Personalized caller visuals can enhance recognition and trust at a time when many people ignore calls from numbers they don’t know. Industry reports from companies like Hiya and Truecaller have tracked increasing call screening prompted by spam and spoofing, so anything that makes the real calls look familiar results in more answers. The professional card potentially could help ensure more calls get answered, especially for freelance workers, small-business owners, and community organizers reluctant to shift the discussion to text or email.
It also brings Google in line with Apple’s Contact Posters, providing parity to a feature millions of people already enjoy. And with Android’s footprint being so broad—StatCounter puts the figure at around 70 percent of the global mobile OS market—the potential network effect when adoption becomes widespread across devices using the Google dialer will be considerable.
Bottom line: My Calling Card converts a simple phone call into a memorable ice-breaker. Google is taking a step toward making caller ID feel modern — and more useful — without sacrificing user choice, with straightforward editing tools, transparent visibility options, and intelligent priority rules.
