Pixel 6 Pro Gets Face Unlock Settings in Android 13 Beta

As discovered by M. Brandon Lee, the new Android 13 Beta adds Face Unlock settings to the Pixel 6 Pro. These settings aren’t functional, though they seem to verify rumors that Face Unlock will come to the Pixel 6 Pro this June.

Developers like @mile_freak07 recently discovered references to Face Unlock in the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro code. And just last week, internal sources confirmed 9to5Google’s suspicion that Face Unlock was supposed to be included with the Pixel 6 Pro at launch—not the standard Pixel 6, just the Pro model.

Correct, and even if you force the "face unlock" setting to show up and declare the face unlock feature flag, it won't work. FaceManager reports "no sensors" available. pic.twitter.com/Akr3tng7GL

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) April 27, 2022

The new settings discovered by M. Brandon Lee make earlier rumors feel a lot more tangible. These settings don’t show up on the standard Pixel 6, suggesting that Face Unlock will be exclusive to the Pixel 6 Pro. (There’s just one weird thing to note; someone got these settings working on their Pixel 5 with the Android 13 Beta.)

Technically speaking, it may be possible to get Face Unlock working on the Pixel 6 Pro with the Android 13 Beta. But as Esper’s Mishaal Rahman notes, FaceManager reports that the phone has “no sensors” even after enabling the appropriate Face Unlock flags.

We expect Face Unlock to arrive for the Pixel 6 Pro this June, when Google launches the next Pixel Feature Drop. It would be a great addition to the phone, which is plagued by a terrible fingerprint sensor.