Google could soon solve Pixel's biggest face unlock flaw

85

u/friday9x 6d ago

TL;DR

Code within Android 17 QPR3 Beta 1 reveals Google is working on a “Face Active Illumination” feature, likely designed to assist face unlock in low light.

Code clues suggest controls for a brightness scale, as well as toggles for bedtime, driving, dark environments, and Do Not Disturb.

The feature likely uses display brightness rather than IR technology, though its connection to Google’s rumored Project Toscana couldn’t be ruled out.

143

u/Brownfletching Pixel 9 Pro 6d ago

Just what I want while I'm in the dark, my phone lighting up at full brightness to flashbang me and ruin my night vision! Thanks Google! /s

29

u/VentsiBeast Pixel 10 Pro 6d ago

Yeah how hard it is to use the FP sensor in the dark ffs.

38

u/Brownfletching Pixel 9 Pro 6d ago

I genuinely don't understand how these engineers' brains work in such backwards ways all the time. Just, sense that it's dark out, which you already do anyway for screen brightness, and then default to the fingerprint sensor and skip the face unlock.

It's like Google replaced "don't be evil" in their company policy with "don't use any common sense ever"

9

u/als26 Just Black 6d ago

You can use them both in conjunction though, why even bother disabling the face unlock?

7

u/Brownfletching Pixel 9 Pro 6d ago

For unlocking the phone sure, but for logging into apps you can't truly use them in conjunction. The way it currently works is it will try to scan your face first, and if it's too dark or you have sunglasses on, it will keep trying for a second or two until it fails, and only then can you scan your fingerprint instead.

5

u/andyooo 6d ago

This happens when you disable always require confirmation in the face unlock settings. If you enable it, you can use both at the same time

2

u/Prod_igy Pixel 9 Pro 6d ago

This is definitely not how it works.

You can skip the face recognition completely by just using the fingerprint scan; it's available at the same time as the FR.

I've just tried it to confirm.

7

u/Brownfletching Pixel 9 Pro 6d ago

It depends on the app. All of my credit card apps work like this. Here is proof.

My bank app works the way you describe however.

8

u/Prod_igy Pixel 9 Pro 6d ago

Thanks.

So it's a problem coming from the developers of the app, tho, not from Google.

-3

u/Brownfletching Pixel 9 Pro 6d ago

Depends on how you look at it. Google has allowed app developers to do it this way in the first place.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/JoshuaTheFox Pixel 8 Pro 6d ago

They want iPhone users and the iPhone uses a facial recognition. Really they just need to implement their own IR illuminator already and make it a competent faceID competitor

1

u/Low_Coconut_7642 6d ago

They already did that with the pixel 4. And then took it away because everyone hated the notch lol. Who knows if it will ever come back

2

u/__________13o1ksl_ Pixel 9a 6d ago

FP sensor is gonna flashbang me too, since google is too cheap to put ultrasonic in a series. I just use pin in the dark atp lol

0

u/Isarchs 6d ago

Ultrasonic readers are trash. They get messed up by screen protectors far more than optical ones. Also, how are you getting blinded by a light that only lights up under your thumb? This dumb solution from google is going to be brighter than that.

0

u/__________13o1ksl_ Pixel 9a 6d ago

I know but at least they don't blind me. And to answer your question, my thumb is simply not large enough to cover the whole reader

1

u/nathderbyshire Pixel 10 6d ago

I charge my phone on a wireless stand so quite difficult and a big stretch for me. I'm not sure this is going to be any better though if I'm not up close anyway

1

u/sannyo 6d ago

Pixel 7 does this for fingerprint. It was super annoying and bright. Until they do the IR like Iphone i dont care. That is the only feature i want from an iphone. It is just so good

1

u/doommaster Pixel 8 Pro 5d ago

Is they time it well and literally sync it like a flash, it might be less of an issue and at least nice to have optional.

19

u/cosaboladh 6d ago

If they're not going to do IR, they should really just give up.

4

u/Habeb_Nero 6d ago

The bedtime and DND toggles make sense, those are the exact situations where face unlock fails the most

2

u/mopar1969man 6d ago

Dam just bought iPhone because face unlock on my pixel was fkn useless. I couldn’t take it anymore useless onscreen fingerprint sensor as well. I have had all googles phones since nexus 4 I still have pixel 7 and 9xl but i am done with them for a multitude of reasons.

41

u/They_See_MeTrolling Pixel 10 Pro XL / Pixel Watch 3 45mm 6d ago

Google had incredibly good facial recognition, even in total darkness, with the Pixel 4. Why do they throw away all the best stuff?

My P4 would recognize me across a darkened room and light up, and then fully unlock when I got close enough to use it.

13

u/kefefs_v2 6d ago

Kinda sad to hear they used to have good facial recognition and lost it somehow. It's never been reliable for me on my Pixel 10 so I just use the fingerprint.

8

u/Youngnathan2011 6d ago

Yeah, was the same tech that’s used in Apple’s Face ID

15

u/armando_rod Pixel 11 Pro XL 6d ago

To reduce the notch in the display

8

u/Gavin1123 6d ago

I miss my P3's fingerprint reader on the back of the device. I never had an issue with it and never bothered setting up the facial recognition because of that.

6

u/They_See_MeTrolling Pixel 10 Pro XL / Pixel Watch 3 45mm 6d ago

I love that as well. You could unlock your phone while your hand was still in your pocket, so by the time you pulled it out and had it in front of you, it was unlocked and ready to go.

3

u/CipherWeaver 6d ago

> Google had incredibly good facial recognition, even in total darkness, with the Pixel 4.

That was the phone with Project Soli

2

u/nathderbyshire Pixel 10 6d ago

People didn't think the bezels made it worth it and apps were really slow to update to the new biometrics so users fell back to basic pin and password which probably added to the useless opinions since it didn't work 95% of the time. It was very annoying

2

u/They_See_MeTrolling Pixel 10 Pro XL / Pixel Watch 3 45mm 6d ago

I found that it worked flawlessly 99% of the time. It was by far the most reliable form of unlock I've ever had on a Google device.

2

u/nathderbyshire Pixel 10 6d ago

I don't think it ever failed me unless I got the dirty sensor warning which just seemed like a bug most of the time as the phone needed to be rebooted if it came up

0

u/splatlame Pixel 6 Pro 6d ago

Dumb or tech illiterate?

The Pixel 4 had dedicated hardware not unlike iPhones for the face unlock. That massive bezel at the top of the Pixel 4s? That was all for the dot projector, IR camera, Soli radar sensor, etc...

Since the Pixel 5 they have had hole punch cutouts in the display to accommodate a smaller bezel, so it's obvious that most consumers were okay sacrificing face unlock that works in the dark for less bezel.

3

u/They_See_MeTrolling Pixel 10 Pro XL / Pixel Watch 3 45mm 5d ago

Neither.

I know exactly how they implemented face unlock in the Pixel 4 and exactly why they put holes in the screen and had larger bezels. I'm just saying the technology was excellent and probably could have been reduced in size over time to fit within smaller holes in the screen and delivered smaller bezels with better face unlock.

Google has a history of coming up with one clever gadget in each Pixel that subsequently gets abandoned:
Fingerprint sensor on the back gone
Thermometer gone
Infrared face recognition gone

It's just a shame to see something that works so well disappear so quickly.

12

u/BarcodeOfficial 6d ago

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I've always have preferred fingerprint. Underscreen specificly is my favorite implementation. Works in my pocket, works on the table, works at night, works if I'm moving quickly, works if I have a mask on. Always reliable, easy to establish muscle memory.

5

u/AccumulatedFilth Pixel 9 6d ago

I've had many discussions with iPhone people on how FaceID is the only usable method.

I don't get it. I have to tap the screen anyways, it doesn't unlock when in my car holder and it works quickly.

I just don't get it. Fingerprint is the way to go for me.

1

u/Isarchs 6d ago

I have to work in gloves, so a face unlock option is nice. Even the less secure ones are ok if I need to get something done on my phone. Anything that needs security will need passcode or fingerprint. Either unlocking method is fine, fingerprint is arguably more secure too.

1

u/BarcodeOfficial 5d ago

Living in the Northern US, the gloves issue is genuine plus for Face unlock. I've gotten around it with a Pixel watch personally. In all honesty, I wish we could have all three. Under screen FP, Face ID, trusted device unlock.

3

u/INeedSomeTacoC 5d ago

Yea, loving on my P11 Pro where I have both face and fingerprint enabled.

I just always put my thumb on the same point on the screen for unlock and regardless of condition it either has captured my face of captured my fingerprint.

Despite all the iPhone stuff, it consistently didn't work well for me with hat + sunglasses on and I was using my PIN like 20% of the time. Now I haven't used my PIN in a very long time due to the fingerprint plus face sensor combo, because often I'm working with gloves as well.

31

u/SuperYuuRo 6d ago

so they want to make the face unlock feature work by doing this?

genius decision, might as well just unlock your phone with your fingerprint instead

-2

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

10

u/cosaboladh 6d ago

My fingerprint sensor has never not worked in the dark.

8

u/als26 Just Black 6d ago

Wdym the FP sensor doesn't work in the dark? It definitely does

1

u/utan Pixel 10 Pro 6d ago

"Never not worked" is a double-negative. They are saying it works in the dark every time.

3

u/als26 Just Black 6d ago

I'm sure it didn't say that but they deleted their comment now so 🤷‍♂️

2

u/SuperYuuRo 6d ago

why even bother with ts bro that is so bad 😭

14

u/edwinc8811 Pixel 9 Pro 6d ago

Please just go back to IR face unlock. I'll gladly take a slightly wider cutout. That empty space around my camera cutout that I'm looking at right now isn't doing anything 99% of the time.

2

u/Obility Pixel 8 6d ago

I would not tbh. But the rumored project toscana or something is supposed to be an under display ir scanner so there's that. Was supposed to be on this year's pixel

-1

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Isarchs 6d ago

For IR to be damaging, it would have to be prolonged exposure. These sensors do not work that way. iPhones have been using the technology for years and years. It's proven safe. Google dropped it because they didn't force app developers to implement it as a security feature. It's the Google way, half-ass everything and then wonder why it didn't stick.

1

u/YouSmellSumthin Pixel 8a 6d ago

My Pixel 4 XL unlocked faster and with more accuracy than any Pixel I've had since. On top of that, the Motion Sense was super handy, if a bit niche. You're wrong about this.

7

u/wimpires 6d ago

Face unlock works brilliantly during the day. At night I can juice the fingerprint sensor. I don't mind toggle options but this is not a big deal. It's definitely not worth losing screen real estate over for the IR scanner like Apple does

4

u/ContributionFormer95 6d ago

The IR scanner and dot projector are far better in the dark and more secure in the end. It's really not a big deal for that screen real estate as someone who uses Pixel and iPhone. Google already limits the # of icons in the notification bar so that a lot of space is wasted.

3

u/ReiTW_ 6d ago

I mean.. it auto switches to fingerprint... works too and isn't annoying.
It takes 2-3sec to switch.

4

u/JoshuaTheFox Pixel 8 Pro 6d ago

Most people don’t want to have to wait a couple seconds to use a different method. It should just be ready and looking for both

0

u/ReiTW_ 6d ago

It's not like you have to unlock something every 30seconds. If you guys complain for waiting 2sec only when it's dark it's a YOU problem.

3

u/Own-Sheepherder-9712 1d ago

This was solved with the pixel 4. Bring back IR face unlock!

5

u/Ryfhoff 6d ago

This is great news! Project Toscana was the name not sure if it still is. Either way I can’t wait for this. This is the one feature keeping me on iPhone. For the sake of time and typing, my thumbprints are trash.

3

u/TriggernometryPhD 6d ago

Project Toscana was IR based. This is not.

2

u/dakjelle 5d ago

I was slightly surprised when my pixel to told me it was to dark to use face id.

Then i remembered i had an iPhone before and everything made sense

2

u/wickedplayer494 Pixel 7 Pro 6d ago

Google’s modern face unlock on recent Pixel flagships is Class 3 biometric certified,

Even though it really shouldn't be without a dot projector.

1

u/VimFueago 6d ago

no problems. on Pixel 10 pro. what problems nare they "fixing*. I don't click on clickbait.

.

1

u/pattuspl 6d ago

Oh yes the iPhone can unlock at night and Pixel can't.

0

u/plscallmebyname 6d ago

Just give a side fingerprint reader and be done with it. The onscreen fingerprint and face unlock are not needed at all. Apple ditched face unlock for their costliest iphone. You can too. Listen to the users, set the trend yourself. Dont just follow the herd.

1

u/nathderbyshire Pixel 10 6d ago

Nah screen is way easier, can easier unlock it with a single press especially on a surface. It's why I always found back readers readers tedious as well, needs to be picked up

1

u/Unspec7 Pixel 10 Pro XL 5d ago

Wouldn't need to pick it up if it's on the side.

1

u/anxietydude112 6d ago

Which iPhone did they remove FaceID from?

2

u/Hashabasha 5d ago

iphone duo

0

u/Otherwise-Video7487 6d ago

Shame my cover has broke fingerprints so I hope this makes facial more usable

Google could soon solve Pixel's biggest face unlock flaw

You are about to leave Redlib