Google is working on an intriguing new feature for its Pixel smartphones, due to be released as an app in the next major Pixel Feature Drop coming next month. The Pixel Besties app will be pre-installed on Pixels following the update, and this will centralize your communications with specific people you choose across supported apps.
It’s unclear what the full list of supported apps will be. Clearly, Google Contacts and Google Messages will be in there, we assume Google Photos too. And also WhatsApp, since it’s the latest WhatsApp beta for Android that has provided the clues for Google’s launch of Pixel Besties through an APK teardown.
Pixel Besties code in WhatsApp
The new WhatsApp beta has a new Content Provider added, which is Pixel Besties. In Android apps, a Content Provider is a component that acts as a central repository for data. The Content Providers let other apps access and modify that data through a standard interface, enabling data sharing between apps. In this case, Pixel Besties seems to be maintaining a central database, and WhatsApp is accessing and modifying that data through the API.
More Pixel Besties code in WhatsApp
Pixel Besties will show your recent calls and messages from supported apps with each of the people you’ve designated as Besties, and it will also have a widget that will probably show either all of your interactions with all of your Besties or perhaps you’ll be able to add a widget for each Bestie. While WhatsApp seems to be the first third-party app to integrate with Besties, it might not be the last.