The folks at Android Authority have once again dug in some code and discovered interesting stuff. This time, it’s the Google Contacts version 4.35 where the new option was discovered. When you tap on the profile picture on the top right, you can pick the option “without an account”. The option is not currently live though, but it’s probably going to be available at some point in the future.
When you tap on the “Use without an account” button, you are redirected to the Organize tab of the app, and a dialog is explaining what will happen if you use without an account. Basically, you lose out on Google Contact sync, and any contacts imported from your Google account will be removed.
Right now, you can also turn off Google Contacts sync, but the process is somewhat complicated. One of the ways to do that is from Contact settings and then, in Google Contact sync settings. Then you have to go to the desired Google account (if you have more than one) and tap the Status option to turn off Google Contact Sync’s toggle.
On top of that, Google is working on refining the individual contact page with some tweaks to its looks. Some options are relocated, like Share contact, Add to home screen, move to another account, and delete. Those are currently in the menu and will be right on the page with the update.
This second update is also currently in testing and it’s not available in the app just yet.
I especially love the option to not use a Google account if you want to. I think giving people choices on how to use an app is always good, so I’m all up for this new update. However, the second change we talked about in this article may be the first one that we get to see live, as it’s a smaller update. There’s currently no timeline for the official release of these changes.
