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How September’s Pixel Drop changes the way you call and message important contacts
Tech > Services & Software > Operating Systems > Mobile OS > Android
The update lets you contact VIPs with a tap and adds scam protection.
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The September 2026 Pixel Drop is officially rolling out, and while it’s not a huge update, it does bring a potentially very useful tool to your home screen. This is separate from the September Android Drop, which introduced a new way to keep track of important items and a new motion sickness feature.
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The most useful update, and the one I’m most excited about, makes it a lot easier to call or message your most used contacts.
In June 2025, Google debuted Pixel VIPs, a widget that stored important contacts for easy access. The process still involved multiple taps, though, as you had to tap a contact inside the VIP widget to access that profile card, then tap a second time to call or message that person. I had VIP contacts saved, but I rarely used them because the process wasn’t much shorter than using the regular method.
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The widget is staying, but the September update adds 1-tap direct call and text buttons right on the home screen card.
Google says the widget itself supports up to 16 contacts, but early reports indicate that if you add more than 4, it reverts to the old layout to save space.