Android 12 L would confirm the arrival of facial recognition

Google could offer Face Unlock facial recognition on the Pixel 6 Pro. Reserved for the most expensive edition of the range, this technology, inaugurated on the Pixel 4, appeared in the source code of the Android 12 L update.

With the Pixel 6, Google has bypassed facial recognition technology inaugurated on the Pixel 4. Instead of Face Unlock, the Silicon Valley giant has integrated for the first time a fingerprint reader under the touch screen. Unfortunately, many testimonies assure that this biometric sensor is not as efficient as hoped.

Under these conditions, Google would consider enabling facial recognition on the Pixel 6. In early November, Android 12 source code revealed that the company had already implemented facial recognition in the firmware intended for its smartphones. To operate without Soli radar, Face Unlock would rely on the machine learning performance of the Tensor processor, Google’s first in-house chipset.

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Android 12 L mentions Pixel 6 Pro with facial recognition

More recently, our colleagues at 9To5Google have discovered several clues confirming the arrival of facial recognition on the Pixel 6 in the Android 12 L code. Currently available in beta, the Android 12 L update is a version of Android redesigned for phones with large screens, such as foldable phones.

While digging through the APK of the beta, the media unearthed lines of code that indicate that Pixel 6 can both unlock with fingerprint reader or facial recognition. The lines refer to the possibility of using one’s “Face or fingerprint” to unlock the device. However, the only Pixel with integrated facial recognition is the Pixel 4 and the smartphone does not have a fingerprint sensor.

De facto, Android 12 L clearly evokes the latest Pixels, the Pixel 6. Obviously, Face Unlock, an option described as “experimental” would be reserved for the Pixel 6 Pro, the more high-end edition. The phone code name has appeared several times in the APK. This is not the case with the code name of the standard model.

Note that it is always possible that Google decides never to add facial recognition to its latest flagship. It happens that the engineers of the group implement options and functionalities without ever exploiting them.

Source: 9To5Google