I like the idea of Trusted Locations but - be warned - you simply cannot rely on it to work as intended.
I arrived in Brazil on business last Sunday and returned to Connecticut yesterday morning. I was approximately 4,900 miles from home the entirety of the last week. While there, I used Google maps several times, not to mention connecting to a local cellular network (my carrier is Google Project Fi) so I would assume that the phone "knew" where I was.
Last Thursday, having been in Brazil for nearly 5 full days, I thought to check and see if Smart Lock was actually working.
My Smart Lock configuration was simple with just one option selected: Trusted places, specifically, "Home", with lock 5 seconds after sleep or immediately with the power off button.
Imagine my surprise when I tried simply swiping the lock screen and the phone went immediately to the home screen! I tested every manner I could think of and always the same result.
Finally, I was able to make work (I thought) by applying an old trick I once resorted to under a much earlier version of the OS - I disabled the "Home" location and manually entered my next door neighbor's address in its place.
As I said, I recall having to do this in the past but I'm sure it was fixed at some point along the way.
Yesterday evening, having been back at home for 12 hours, it occurred to me to once again see if Trusted Location was working with my next door neighbor's address (our homes are quite close together - probably less than 100 ft center to center); it was not. I had to enter my PIN or fingerprint to unlock the phone. Tested several times with the same result. I opened Google maps to see that the center of my current location circle was one street over from my actual location. With some effort, I managed to force Maps to locate me accurately and, after that, my phone was unlocked as expected.
All in all, my experience with Trusted Location leaves much to be concerned about. Given the ease of unlocking the Pixel with the fingerprint sensor (which I tend to do always, regardless of where I happen to be at the moment), I would strongly suggest disabling SmartLock/Trusted Location if you are at all worried about your device's security.
PS: For those who might ask, my Location mode is, and always has been, set to On/High Accuracy and I do not use any battery saver or similar apps.
I arrived in Brazil on business last Sunday and returned to Connecticut yesterday morning. I was approximately 4,900 miles from home the entirety of the last week. While there, I used Google maps several times, not to mention connecting to a local cellular network (my carrier is Google Project Fi) so I would assume that the phone "knew" where I was.
Last Thursday, having been in Brazil for nearly 5 full days, I thought to check and see if Smart Lock was actually working.
My Smart Lock configuration was simple with just one option selected: Trusted places, specifically, "Home", with lock 5 seconds after sleep or immediately with the power off button.
Imagine my surprise when I tried simply swiping the lock screen and the phone went immediately to the home screen! I tested every manner I could think of and always the same result.
Finally, I was able to make work (I thought) by applying an old trick I once resorted to under a much earlier version of the OS - I disabled the "Home" location and manually entered my next door neighbor's address in its place.
As I said, I recall having to do this in the past but I'm sure it was fixed at some point along the way.
Yesterday evening, having been back at home for 12 hours, it occurred to me to once again see if Trusted Location was working with my next door neighbor's address (our homes are quite close together - probably less than 100 ft center to center); it was not. I had to enter my PIN or fingerprint to unlock the phone. Tested several times with the same result. I opened Google maps to see that the center of my current location circle was one street over from my actual location. With some effort, I managed to force Maps to locate me accurately and, after that, my phone was unlocked as expected.
All in all, my experience with Trusted Location leaves much to be concerned about. Given the ease of unlocking the Pixel with the fingerprint sensor (which I tend to do always, regardless of where I happen to be at the moment), I would strongly suggest disabling SmartLock/Trusted Location if you are at all worried about your device's security.
PS: For those who might ask, my Location mode is, and always has been, set to On/High Accuracy and I do not use any battery saver or similar apps.
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