Google Pixel 6 Could Get Face Unlock, There’s Still Hope

As Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro owners already know, those two phones do not offer face unlock, though there is still hope it may arrive. Some new evidence for it surfaced, thanks to Freak07, an XDA developer.

Face unlock could be could to the Pixel 6, there’s still hope

He was digging through the Android 12 QRP3 Beta 1.1 build, and found a new change that related to the feature. The change was spotted in the PowerHAL config file. Face unlock was spotted in that file, as Google is allegedly calling the feature ‘Tuscany’ in this commit.

Again some news to share regarding face unlock on Pixel 6/Pro devices. This time a glimmer of hope.

After going through the firmware dump of the new QPR3 Beta 1.1, I found a new change regarding face unlock in the powerhal config file. https://t.co/aO5m0YUxPn pic.twitter.com/r6DAssktPx

— Mile (@mile_freak07) March 26, 2022

The developer also noted that Google doesn’t generally push device tree changes of developer previews or beta releases to their Git. This is also not the first time that ‘Tuscany’ is mentioned in the context of face unlock.

Earlier reports suggested that Google worked on face unlock for the Pixel 6 series, but decided to scrap it. The feature allegedly wasn’t ready, and it also drained too much battery as well.

It may arrive as part of the next Pixel feature drop

Based on this new information, Google may end up offering facial scanning after all. That feature may be included in one of the upcoming feature drops that Google organizes, possibly in the next one which is coming mid-year.

Considering the timing of the next feature drop, Google may even take the advantage of Google I/O, and announce it during the event, or at the very least tease it in some way. We’ll have to wait and see.

If it arrives, though, Google’s facial scanning will use the front-facing camera, of course. The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are not equipped with hardware for advanced facial scanning. So, the feature definitely won’t be as secure as Apple’s.

Still, it will be a nice addition for Pixel users if they prefer facial scanning over the fingerprint scanner. That fingerprint scanner on the two devices has been improved since launch, but it’s still not the fastest out there. So, facial scanning could be useful.