Android phone calling screen changed, how to restore back?

Have you noticed that your phone’s app dialer in Android has changed? If you haven’t been conscious enough, well, it has. The change in the dialer’s interface led many to suspect that their phone was hacked or that they were being a victim by some malware. Here, we dissect more and also give you an idea of how to change back to the previous phone calling screen on your Android phone.

Android phone app dialer has a new interface. Why?

When you place a call, you now see a different user interface. As we mentioned above, many felt that it might be due to hacking. However, it is not. The interface changed as Google rolled out a new update that aligns with the company’s Material 3 Expressive Design which is part of the Android 16 overhaul.

Google states that the design change makes its calling feature simpler, intuitive, and effective. The change is not exclusive to the calling screen only, though. Notification, caller theme, and photo, etc., have also incurred some changes in their settings.

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What changed with the Material 3 Expressive Design?

Let’s see what major aspects of calling have changed:

• Contacts: Contacts you marked as favorites and recent ones can now be found in a single tab. You can see your favorite contacts at the top, and recent contacts appear right below it. Also, you can notice that the keypad is now placed at the bottom with its own tab.
• Incoming calls: You can swipe horizontally to answer or decline a call. Previously, you would have had to swipe vertically to perform the same actions. Google says that the change will help minimize accidental acceptance or rejection of calls.
• Calling Buttons: The calling buttons are now rounded, and the ‘end-call’ button has become much larger in red color. Google has done so to improve the visibility of the button and make calling features more accessible.

How to switch back to the previous calling screen interface on Android?

Here are the steps if you want to restore the previous calling screen on your Android phone:

• Launch the Settings app
• Tap on Apps
• You may also have to tap on Manage apps depending on your Android brand
• Tap on the Phone app
• Now, tap on Uninstall updates to discard the update from your Android
• You now have the same calling screen as before

Check out: How to transfer files from Android to iPhone and vice-versa?

Phone app is still a system app from Google, and you can’t uninstall it entirely on all Android phones. But for now, you can uninstall updates to reverse the Material 3 Expressive Design change that’s applied to your calling app.

For any further queries, let us know them in the comments below.