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Android 16's second developer preview offers various optimizations focused on improving the experience of making apps. But Mishaal Rahman of Android Authority has found one new feature that any user will be able to appreciate.
Rahman's discovered that Google Pixel 9 series phones have access to a new "Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock" option in Android 16 developer preview 2. As the name suggests, this lets you unlock the phone via its ultrasonic fingerprint sensor without waking the phone first.
If you happen to have the preview build installed, you can find this setting by opening the Settings app, then Security & privacy, Device Unlock, Face & fingerprint unlock, and finally Fingerprint unlock. Toggle the Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock setting to on, and you'll be able to try this for yourself.
A nice upgrade, if you can get it
Ultrasonic scanners are already superior to standard optical scanners in terms of reliability and speed, so being able to use it without turning the screen on will slowly save you seconds every day, depending on how much you use the phone.
Although, since this is an optional setting, you could always leave it off if you think you'll end up unlocking the phone unintentionally.
Sadly, even though older Pixel models can download Android 16 DP 2, those launched prior to the Pixel 9 don't have the right kind of fingerprint sensor to make use of the new capability, nor does the option even appear for them. Although Rahman doesn't specify in the article, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is likely excluded too, since it uses a capacitive fingerprint scanner on its power button rather than an under-display sensor.
Presumably other phones using ultrasonic scanners, like the Samsung Galaxy S24 and older Galaxy S models, will be able to make use of this feature once Android 16 is widely available.
These phones will also hopefully benefit from other Android 16 abilities like more varied haptic feedback, improved support for phones with adaptive display refresh rates, plus the usual upgrades to security and power efficiency.
Google's thrown the smartphone world off guard by launching Android 16's developer previews much earlier than normal. While we'd usually see the final version of a new edition of Android appear between October and December, Android 16 could instead be finished as early as May according to the tentative release schedule. That would fit with the usual timing of Google I/O, the company's big annual software event.
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