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Google still working on face unlock for Pixel

Luisa Rey

Google is still working on face unlock for Pixel. There are often rumors about it, which then disappear again, but there is now a lot of evidence that points in the right direction. It was actually already expected on the Pixel 6 Pro at launch, but it may still be coming for Google’s smartphone line.

Face unlock

9to5Google has made a tally of what is known so far about this capability for Pixel. Where Pixel 4 still had everything to make face unlock possible, that disappeared again on Pixel 5. No Soli technology or face unlock. Because of this, the hope was that Pixel 6 would have this again.

Now it seems to be coming. In marketing communications for the Pixel 6 Pro it was already stated before: the phone would have face and fingerprint unlocking. Subsequently, a clue to face unlocking could also be found in the Play Store, complete with a security hub that confirmed that again. However, Google deleted the screenshot after just a few days. Months later, sources confirmed to 9to5Google that the feature was indeed canceled just before launch.

Pixel 6 Pro

It would only appear on the Pixel 6 Pro as that phone has different camera capabilities. The selfie camera is 11.1 megapixels instead of 8 megapixels and a 94-degree field of view. Plus, the Pixel 6 Pro’s Sony IMX663 supports dual-pixel autofocus. So reason to think that that possibility could really be there for the Pixel 6 Pro. Especially now that experts have stumbled upon a change in Android on that phone, namely FACE_UNLOCK_BOOST. This increases the performance of the processor by an extra second so that the phone can quickly scan and unlock your face (with the right face, of course).

Google still working on face unlock for Pixel

It may be annoying that Google just doesn’t come up with the function, but at the same time it has to work perfectly. It should be extremely safe, accurate and not have too bad an impact on the battery. Maybe even we will come to Google Pixel 7 first and only then to 6 Pro. It is of course a nice new possibility that Google can nicely call as ‘innovation’ on a brand new phone. In any case, experts seem convinced that Google won’t let it go on for more years, even if it itself hasn’t mentioned face unlock for some time.

Google Pixel 6 Pro