Google Plans to Pair Your Google+ Pic With Phone Number

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

Google engineering director Attila Bodis revealed on Monday that the company plans to tie Android 4.4's caller I.D. feature with profile pictures used on Google Plus (Google+). This feature will supposedly arrive in early 2014, thus allowing Android device owners to visually see who is calling them. Of course, if the profile picture is of a cat, that's what will be seen on the receiving end.

As revealed last week, Android 4.4 "KitKat" will sport a new dialer app and Caller ID, allowing Android device owners to screen their calls even better than before. For businesses, Google matches numbers against the names of companies and services with a Google Places listing. On the Google Apps front, lookups from a user's Google Apps domain will let him/her know if someone important is calling.

"Coming in early 2014, users who have verified their phone number and have discovery turned on will have their names and Google Profile photos display whenever they call you, or you call them (it's great if a new friend who hasn't been saved in your contacts yet calls you). Check your Google Account to make sure you are happy with how you appear on caller ID by Google."

The big ordeal surrounding this new visually identifying feature is that users will be opted in by default, or at least, that's the general assumption. Changing this feature is as simple as hitting this link and unticking the checkbox. Of course, that won't stop recipients from adding their own picture of you in their Android-based contacts, but at least users have the option of remaining "unseen" to unfamiliar Android users.

Another thing to consider is that this feature will presumably reside in Android 4.4, which won't be on every Android device for the next six months. Then again, there's speculation that this feature may roll out on Jelly Bean builds and older much like the Device Manager did over the summer. That may be why this feature isn't making its debut with Android 4.4 rollout over the next several months.

Regardless, if you don't want your face showing up on Android phones by default, then head here.

Kevin Parrish
38 Comments Comment from the forums
  • smeezekitty
    I must say I am getting very sick of Google integrating all their services together. It is broken IMO and not how many people want it.
    Reply
  • JD88
    Who cares. Your picture is freely visible on the web anyway if you have G+. Making a big deal out of nothing is what this is.
    Reply
  • wildkitten
    11888706 said:
    Who cares. Your picture is freely visible on the web anyway if you have G+. Making a big deal out of nothing is what this is.
    It's just not that, it's Google's constant destroying of people's privacy.

    This should be something people should be able to opt in to, not just have happen.

    Google is beyond the point now where Microsoft was when Microsoft was sued over anti-trust. With all this forcing of Google services on Android users (and yes, I am an Android user), it's about time they get investigated.

    Reply
  • neon neophyte
    that is about the final line for me. switching email providers and done with youtube comments
    Reply
  • sketchbagcom
    "your pic is visible if you already have g+". i had g+. deleted it ages ago. now that youtube merged with it, it pulled all kinds of related data into my youtube account from a deleted g+. do i want my pic on g+? do i want my occupation, details about where i live, etc? no. hence i deleted my account. but, since it was linked to my gmail, and that is linked to my youtube, its been resurrected and piped into this steaming pile of shit that is google+everything. google plus is like a sex offenders registry. you dont ask to be included, but because you did something (in this case just have youtube, as opposed to commit a heinous crime) you get added without your intent
    Reply
  • smeezekitty
    I am forced to have a Google+ account because I use other services but I literally have nothing on it.

    But Google is well known for changing things against what many want and not giving an option out of it. It is really getting out of control at this point though.

    Two things I want is just alittle more privacy and more control which isn't too much to ask.
    Reply
  • JOSHSKORN
    Don't use G+. Problem solved. Who uses that, anyway?
    Reply
  • sketchbagcom
    and re: neon neophyte, i concur. i am already in the process of migrating much of the shit google supplies for me. sure, comb through my web searches to show me ads about obese christian marriages or monster truck trannies, or whatever. but now i guess i have to make it bing for searches. android gets still used on android devices that have no viable linux ports....but no gapps. no search, no play store, etc. (i have to many devices to throw away). any time i am interacting with a site that may in fact use googles extensive ad network? tor, virtual machines with persistent disk support. its like television. if you want to tell my children what clothes to wear, how demographics should behave, what is "normal" for a consumer culture, go ahead. but dont ask me to pay you for it :) if you want my free services to generate revenue, even if i already explicitly said i am not interested in one of the many services, yet you bundle me? i'd rather drop the services entirely and pay for colocated mail hosting for myself again.
    Reply
  • JD88
    11888733 said:
    11888706 said:
    Who cares. Your picture is freely visible on the web anyway if you have G+. Making a big deal out of nothing is what this is.
    It's just not that, it's Google's constant destroying of people's privacy.

    This should be something people should be able to opt in to, not just have happen.

    Google is beyond the point now where Microsoft was when Microsoft was sued over anti-trust. With all this forcing of Google services on Android users (and yes, I am an Android user), it's about time they get investigated.

    I bet you're one of those people who thinks the NSA cares cares what you do too.

    What Google has done is made it very easy to log into all of their services with a single ID. You don't have to make your G+ information visible on your YouTube channel or comments if you choose not to. Anything can be opted out of.

    I'd like to know how Google is forcing anyone to use any of their services. You have a Windows Phone? You need a Windows account. You have an iPhone? You need an Apple ID. That's nothing new.

    Newsflash to everyone: Google doesn't give two pounds of Rhino dung about who you are personally. All they want is your behavior patterns so they can send you ads. Google has hundreds of millions of users. Do you really think Larry and Sergey sit around and read your emails just to know about your meaningless lives?

    And if you bring up the NSA, you suffer from paranoia. Unless you regularly send emails and money to Saudi Arabia to some guy named Akmed Hoonktihoo, they don't even know you exist.
    Reply
  • JD88
    11888969 said:

    But Google is well known for changing things against what many want and not giving an option out of it. It is really getting out of control at this point though.

    Examples?
    Reply