Face Unlock Hopefully Comes in Pixel 7
Will face unlock ever come to the Pixel 6 phones? And will it arrive with the new Pixel 7? Jack Wallen ponders these questions as well as how the answer might affect Pixel owners in a report published on Tech Republic.
By the time the Pixel 5 device rolled out, facial recognition was a thing of the past for Google flagship phones. The Pixel 5 reverted back to a fingerprint sensor. That was somewhat fortuitous, because shortly afterward, COVID and masks put the kibosh on using facial recognition. The Pixel 5 had an outstanding fingerprint sensor but was fairly underwhelming otherwise.
Do you see the pattern forming? Since the Pixel 3, those devices each had a bit of an Achilles’ heel. With the 4, it was the battery, and with the 5, it was the CPU.
Google realized its missteps and returned the Pixel line to flagship status with the 6 and 6 Pro. Both phones were impeccably designed, powerful and stood toe-to-toe with the competition. I’ve found the Pixel 6 Pro to be a stellar example of what Google is capable of. However, there is one issue that has caused considerable ire in the Android community.
The Pixel 6 Pro — very much a flagship device — did not ship with facial recognition. Even though it had the hardware to pull off the feat, Google failed to enable it.
Why This is a Problem
First and foremost, one of the best things about Android (similar to Linux) is users have choices. Don’t like the user interface? Install a new home screen launcher. If you don’t like Gmail, then install any number of email clients. But when faced with that lagging fingerprint sensor on the Pixel 6, your only choice is to use either the PIN or pattern.
However, there has been hope on the horizon. Back with Android 13 beta 1, it was discovered that mentions of facial unlock were found not just for the Pixel 6 but the Pixel 5. At the same time, with every new feature drop for Android 12, the community assumed that would be when the devices would finally receive the update that includes facial recognition.
That never happened with Android 12. No matter how many rumors swirled about, it has yet to come to fruition. There were also rumors that a YouTuber named Brandon Lee discovered references to Face Unlock on the first beta of Android 13. I’ve scoured my Pixel 5 running Android 13 beta 4, and there’s zero indication that face unlock is a part of the OS.
If you take a look at this commit (submitted March 02, 2022, and uncovered by 9to5google) you’ll see this line:
[ DO NOT MERGE ] Enable user_vote_bypass for UDFPS and face unlock
To me, that’s not a clear indication that Pixel 6 devices will get face unlock, but it certainly adds fuel to the fire. And with the Pixel 7 on the horizon, there’s no clear indication if that phone will include face unlock. This is a mistake.
