Google finally sets a date for the old Google Contacts sunset. Now that the new Google Contacts design has finally reached feature parity, the old layout will be deprecated in February of 2019.
Google states that “Contacts now has many comparable features from old Contacts, and more.” Hence, there’s no need to keep the old version around. There are three stages to replacing the old Contacts with the new and improved version.
Starting November 28, a new setting in the Admin console will allow administrators to select what version of Google Contacts managed accounts
- If you currently have new Contacts preview enabled, new Contacts will be the default and there will be no change for your users. Your users will stay using new Contacts with the option to revert back to old Contacts. If they previously opted out of new Contacts preview, they’ll remain opted out until stage 2 (see below).
- If you don’t currently have new Contacts preview enabled, old Contacts will be the default but users will get a new option to try new Contacts. None of your users will be automatically upgraded to new Contacts, but all users will be able to opt in to new Contacts individually if they choose.
Then, on January 19th, the new Contacts is scheduled to become the default version on domains, with the Admin console setting removed.
When this happens, all users still using old Contacts will be moved to new Contacts. You won’t be able to change this for your organization, but individual users will still be able to revert back to old Contacts if they want until stage 3 (see below).
Timeline to move users to new Google Contacts and shut down old Contacts
November 1, 2018
Then, on February 12th, the old Google Contacts becomes obsolete and unusable. Users will lose access to the old version. The new version will be in line with the Android version of Contacts which already has the Material design. Some users already have access to the new Material Design. However, it’s not clear when all users will have access.
The new interface promises to be pretty if its anything like the Gmail look.
The new interface promises to be pretty if its anything like the Gmail look.
The material look and icons will ruin everything. Why does Google think everyone wants to see their boring interface everywhere?
I much prefer the old contacts design… thank you very much.
The material look and icons will ruin everything. Why does Google think everyone wants to see their boring interface everywhere?
I much prefer the old contacts design… thank you very much.