Google is finally closing a small but visible gap in Android’s caller experience. A new “My Calling Card” option — spotted active in a Phone by Google beta build (version 204.0.852029473-publicbeta-pixel) — lets you design how your incoming call appears on other people’s phones, not just how others appear on yours.
How My Calling Card works
Once the feature rolls out publicly, you’ll find it inside Phone by Google > Settings > Calling Cards. The setup flows like a tiny creative studio: pick the Google account to attach the card to, choose a photo from Camera, Gallery, or Google Photos, tweak font, color and size, then preview the result. At the end you choose visibility — show the card to everyone you call, or limit it to people in your contacts.
A couple of practical notes from the beta: your image may be cropped differently on other devices, and if a recipient has already customized how your contact appears on their phone, their local version will take priority over yours. That behavior keeps people’s personal setups intact while still giving you a shot at shaping first impressions for anyone who hasn’t edited your contact.
Who sees your card and privacy controls
Google’s screen explains what recipients will see: your name, chosen photo and parts of your Google account info. If the person you call uses the Google dialer and their app supports calling cards, they’ll see the card you created — unless they’ve applied their own override.
The feature has sensible privacy knobs. You can edit or delete the card at any time, and the visibility toggle is explicit during setup. If you select “everyone,” assume the image and styling could appear broadly; choose accordingly.
Compatibility and limitations
This is a software-level feature of the Phone by Google app, so the smoothest experience appears destined for Pixel phones and other devices that use Google’s dialer as the default. Phones that rely on manufacturer dialers (some Samsung models, for example) may not display the cards unless those dialers add support. If a recipient’s device or dialer doesn’t support calling cards, calls simply fall back to standard caller ID — no connectivity impact.
Because the feature is available in a beta build and already feels complete, a public rollout seems imminent. Google has been pushing iterative updates and experimental features through app betas and server-side tests for months — a pattern you’ve probably noticed alongside other recent tests from the company, like the floating controls and stop-listening toggle spotted for Search Live (/news/google-search-live-controls) and broader user-facing experiments such as Google’s AI Mode work (/news/google-ai-mode-booking-agentic).
Why this matters
On the surface it’s cosmetic: a photo and font choice. In practice it helps with recognition and trust. Personalized caller visuals can reduce confusion and increase answer rates for legitimate calls at a time when people increasingly screen unknown numbers. For freelancers, small-business owners, community organizers or anyone who wants a consistent, professional look when they call, My Calling Card could be a subtle but effective tool.
If you’re the kind of person who enjoys tweaking how your Pixel sounds and look — Google’s recent Pixel Sounds update showed how these aesthetic touches matter to users (/news/pixel-sounds-wild-hokkaido-update) — this fits the same impulse: a small, personal flourish that changes everyday interactions.
Expect the rollout to be gradual. Keep an eye on the Phone by Google beta channel if you want to unlock it early; otherwise it should arrive via app updates and a server-side flip in the coming weeks.