Google finally brings its Phone and Contacts apps to the Play Store (Update 2: back up)

Update #2, December 8: Google’s Phone and Contacts apps are now again available in the Play Store (for Nexus devices only).

Update: For some reason, Google has now pulled the apps from the Google Play store… we’ll update as soon as we learn more.

One of the biggest advantages Android has over other mobile operating systems is the ability for core applications to be accessible in the Google Play Store. Not only does this let Android users with different smartphones download the stock Google apps, but it also allows Google to easily push out updates to individual apps without having to release an entire software update. Google has previously brought its Clock, Camera, Keyboard and many other apps to the Play Store, and now the company has added two more – Phone and Contacts!

As of now, only Nexus, Android One and Google Play Edition phones running Android 6.0 Marshmallow have access to these apps, though it wouldn’t be surprising if Google expanded the availability of these apps very soon. As for what’s new? Not much at the moment. Google’s Phone app was updated to version 2.3.12, but we haven’t noticed any changes so far. The Contacts app received an update to version 1.3.07, which brings “streamlined contact editing” as well as bug fixes and improvements.

Both of these apps are now available for download, so head to the Play Store links below if you’re interested in checking them out.