What you need to know
- Google is developing a new "Phone to Watch Unlock" feature that automatically unlocks your Pixel Watch with your Pixel phone.
- The feature works in reverse of today's Watch Unlock, eliminating the need to enter your watch PIN repeatedly.
- Code strings suggest the feature will be exclusive to the Pixel Watch and Pixel phone ecosystem through Connected Services.
Google could finally fix the one thing that's been annoying me about using a passcode on my Pixel Watch.
For quite some time now, Google has offered a feature called Watch Unlock that lets your Pixel Watch unlock your Pixel phone. If your Pixel Watch is already unlocked and on your wrist, your phone automatically unlocks without asking for your passcode. The problem is that it doesn't work the other way around.
Thankfully, that could finally be changing.
As spotted by Android Authority, Google is working on a new feature called Phone to Watch Unlock that would automatically unlock your Pixel Watch whenever you unlock your paired Pixel phone.
Unlike the current implementation, where an unlocked Pixel Watch can unlock your phone, this feature would work in reverse. Once you unlock your Pixel phone, your Pixel Watch will automatically unlock as well. It's something that's been bugging me for a long time, so I'm glad to see Google finally working on a fix.
Unfortunately, it looks like this feature will be exclusive to the Pixel ecosystem. The code strings were discovered in Google's Connected Phone and Watch Services app, suggesting it will only work between Pixel phones and Pixel Watches.
From what it appears, Google will prompt users to enable the feature during setup. You'll first need to enter your current watch PIN as a one-time verification, after which your Pixel Watch will automatically unlock whenever you unlock your Pixel phone.
There's currently no word on when the feature will roll out. However, since it's already been spotted in the app's code, there's a good chance Google is preparing to launch it sooner rather than later.
Android 17's first major Feature Drop is expected next month, so it's possible this feature could arrive as part of that update.
