Google is bringing a much-requested orientation control to its dialer. In the latest Phone by Google app public beta, testers have noticed a new feature that will further discourage unwanted tabloid reading while on the line: You can finally disable your in-call interface from displacing your home screen or app drawer during phone calls using landscape mode.
The toggle has arrived in version 202.0.838486605-publicbeta and allows users to decide for themselves whether or not calls can rotate. According to multiple testers (including popular Android code sleuth AssembleDevs), the option is live for some accounts, indicating a staged rollout as Google checks stability and feedback before full release.
The reversal scrubs something of an odd detour in the user experience. The dialer began sometimes flipping to landscape during calls, even when there was no request for a horizontal call screen. For many, the move was disruptive: a side-swiped keypad, elongated avatars, and off-target touches in mid-call are just the sort of micro-friction that makes everyday features feel janky. Users complained in community forums and support threads about unwanted rotations while walking, or setting the phone down on a desk.
Why a Portrait Lock in Google Phone App Matters
With the phone vertical, in close proximity to your face is where calls often take place one-handed. On today’s bigger devices — the average screen size is now more than 6.4 inches, according to market trackers like Counterpoint Research — even small tilts can send you into rotation if auto-rotate is on. A mid-call orientation switch also snatches the keypad and mute/speaker buttons away from your prodding fingers just as you go to tap them, promoting mis-touches.
Accessibility is another angle. TalkBack users and other readers of large text are provided with a stable layout that doesn’t trigger a reflow as they read. A portrait lock preserves the known controls (essentially, for emergency calls or constrained fine motor control).
Importantly, the app-provided lock works alongside Android system auto-rotate. You can leave auto-rotate on for video or gaming, but keep the call UI locked down to portrait. That granular control is the essence of good mobile UX: let the user choose feature-by-feature.
How to Obtain the Call Rotation Toggle in Beta
The portrait lock is available for download now in the public beta channel of Phone by Google. Play Store-enrolled users are starting to see the setting in the app’s preferences, which is listed as controlling call screen rotation. The feature has been under active development, with Google frequently gating new options behind server-side flags, so availability could differ even between the same version number.
If you don’t see it yet, you can just be patient. Normally, new Phone app features graduate from beta to stable a few weeks after Google spends some time collecting crash data and feedback across Pixel devices and partner phones. And when it arrives more widely, don’t be surprised to see it ship as a regular toggle inside the app settings, rather than as an obscure developer flag.
Landscape Mode Still Has Legitimate Call Use Cases
Meanwhile the default copy here should feel right if you do it, but supporting landscape isn’t necessarily wrong. For car mounts, docks, and foldables, and for tablets that are capable of making cellular calls, a horizontal interface can increase reach and visibility. People who are on speakerphone at a desk, for example, might like landscape so they can more easily reach the keypad and call controls.
The correct answer isn’t either-or, it’s optionality. Google’s solution — leave landscape for those who want it, include a clear switch for everyone who doesn’t — skims that needle. It also fits with the broader Android UI direction — where features that themselves adapt based on context are increasingly things you can override per-app rather than force globally — but oh well.
Implications for Android UX and Call Screen Design
This little toggle mirrors a broader pattern within Google’s core apps: ship, observe what happens in the real world at scale and add controls when something suddenly feels uncomfortable. We’ve also seen other apps like Maps and Photos make similar course corrections by adding settings for incremental features after feedback revealed unexpected edge cases.
It also illustrates the extent of Contacts’ reach into the Phone app. Beyond Pixels, many brands — including in global markets Motorola and HMD Global’s Nokia phones — already ship Google’s dialer out of the box, although some use their own, such as Samsung. Even small adjustments reverberate across the millions of daily calls, meaning a new feature preference might have outsized influence.
Bottom Line: A Simple Toggle That Improves Calls
Calls are a smartphone’s most fundamental feature, and the best experience is the one that lets you make your calls as efficiently as possible. In allowing users to lock in calls to portrait, Google is reestablishing consistency without ditching landscape when it makes sense. It’s not a huge fix, but if you’re tired of getting the dialer spinning right when it’s least convenient, it’s exactly the sort of fix that does matter.
