The Pixel 6's fingerprint scanner is so bad that Google could add Face Unlock

Justin Duino

While arguably one of the best Android phones ever made, the Pixel 6 suffers from a shockingly unreliable fingerprint sensor. Software updates haven’t solved the problem, and now Google seems to be introducing Face Unlock for the Pixel 6 as a workaround.

The Pixel 6 launched without Face Unlock, which wasn’t much of a surprise. Finally, Face Unlock isn’t very secure – it can be fooled with a picture of someone’s face, which isn’t a problem for iPhone users with Face ID. Additionally, Face Unlock can waste battery life when the always-on display is enabled.

But developers @mike_freak07 discovered that Google is toying with Face Unlock. The new Android 12 QPR3 Beta 1.1 for Pixel 6 has several mentions of Face Unlock in its Powerhaul configuration file.

Again some news about Face Unlock on Pixel 6/Pro devices. A glimmer of hope this time.

After looking through the firmware dump of the new QPR3 Beta 1.1, I found a new change related to Face Unlock in the Powerhal configuration file. https://t.co/aO5m0YUxPn pic.twitter.com/r6DAssktPx

— Mile (@mile_freak07) March 26, 2022

Not these small changes confirm that Google is working on Face Unlock for the Pixel 6. They simply prove that Google is testing Face Unlock on current or next-gen Pixel hardware. As far as we know, Google could abandon these tests or release an improved version of Face Unlock with the Pixel 7.

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I should note that previous Pixel phones had Face Unlock. Remarkably, the Pixel 4 used a secure 3D dot matrix system for facial recognition, making it one of the few Android phones to implement something similar to iPhone’s Face ID.

If Google adds Face Unlock to the Pixel 6, it will likely arrive in a Pixel Feature Drop or the Android 13 update. But don’t get your hopes up too high. There is no guarantee that Google will implement this feature in Pixel 6 or future devices.

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Source: @mike_freak07 via TechRadar

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The Pixel 6’s fingerprint scanner is so bad that Google could add Face Unlock