Face unlock coming via Android 12L for 6 Pro only?

[mustang7757]

Then should it be released? Of it's not secure and can be easily fooled, does Google really want the backlash of it being bypassed by someone to get info. Or even the feature getting ridiculed by media for being flimsy.

If they're going to release a face unlocking feature, it has to be as good as the iPhone's face unlock.

Or up to par with Samsung offering lol which does the job but not like iPhone or pixel 4xl

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

Or up to par with Samsung offering lol which does the job but not like iPhone or pixel 4xl

I never used the face unlock on my S21U, but I'd imagine it's not as secure. I just don't think Google should release it unless they can somehow make it secure. Not sure how they do that just with a front facing camera.

 

[mustang7757]

I never used the face unlock on my S21U, but I'd imagine it's not as secure. I just don't think Google should release it unless they can somehow make it secure. Not sure how they do that just with a front facing camera.

If they do it as Samsung currently have it then I think it's fine.

 

[buzzy3970]

Or up to par with Samsung offering lol which does the job but not like iPhone or pixel 4xl

Apple's face unlock isn't the holy Grail either. It can be fooled by someone with similar facial features (relatives, twins, etc). I really miss the iris scanner on Samsung devices now that was innovation not to mention the animation choices you had while unlocking the phone.

 

[Aflaaaak]

I have a 6 Pro, so would love face unlock to come to the phone, though it would be nice to see face unlock also coming to the 6 as well.

Even though the Pro will of course have more features, I think because face unlock won't require additional hardware to be implemented, it should come out on the Pixel 6 as well.

My concern will be just how far and secure it'll be. As the phones don't have the same face unlock hardware that the iPhone and the Pixel 4 had, so I'm wondering if it'll be secure or if it can be fooled easily.

What unsecure Face Unlock hardware is the Pixel 6 Pro missing that the iPhone and Pixel 4 have?

 

[TraderGary]

What unsecure Face Unlock hardware is the Pixel 6 Pro missing that the iPhone and Pixel 4 have?

An additional infrared light source to allow better 3D and low light analysis.

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

What unsecure Face Unlock hardware is the Pixel 6 Pro missing that the iPhone and Pixel 4 have?

Here: https://i.ibb.co/m51McHn/images.jpg

All those sensors the iPhone has for face unlock. The Pixel 6 Pro just has the front facing camera, proximity sensor and ambient light sensor.

 

[Scott337]

The Pixel 4 & 4XL had all those Project Soli sensors in the top of the phone. That was used for secure face ID, along with other features. And it was not widely liked, and did not receive a lot of positive reviews. Google already took their turn at secure face ID and it kind of backfired; many app developers refused to update their apps to allow face unlock on the Pixel 4 series to be used as a secure biometric even though it was secure. I communicated with several app dev teams about this when I had my Pixel 4XL, and sent them all the documentation about the Pixel 4 & Soli sensors, and how easy it was for them to enable secure biometric for the Pixel 4 series but exclude all other Android phones. Some said thanks and enabled it in future updates and many other apps just refused to enable secure face unlock on the Pixel 4. It can't be done with just a simple selfie camera (at least not right now), so if Google does bring face unlock it won't be considered a secure biometric like a fingerprint; they would need sensors in the top of the phone to make it secure....and their last attempt at that was great functionality but complained about by the tech media.

 

[Aflaaaak]

An additional infrared light source to allow better 3D and low light analysis.

Thank you .

 

[Aflaaaak]

Here: https://i.ibb.co/m51McHn/images.jpg

All those sensors the iPhone has for face unlock. The Pixel 6 Pro just has the front facing camera, proximity sensor and ambient light sensor.

Thank you. I guess this is another place Google cut back to keep their price below the other "flagships" ;_.

 

[Aflaaaak]

The Pixel 4 & 4XL had all those Project Soli sensors in the top of the phone. That was used for secure face ID, along with other features. And it was not widely liked, and did not receive a lot of positive reviews. Google already took their turn at secure face ID and it kind of backfired; many app developers refused to update their apps to allow face unlock on the Pixel 4 series to be used as a secure biometric even though it was secure. I communicated with several app dev teams about this when I had my Pixel 4XL, and sent them all the documentation about the Pixel 4 & Soli sensors, and how easy it was for them to enable secure biometric for the Pixel 4 series but exclude all other Android phones. Some said thanks and enabled it in future updates and many other apps just refused to enable secure face unlock on the Pixel 4. It can't be done with just a simple selfie camera (at least not right now), so if Google does bring face unlock it won't be considered a secure biometric like a fingerprint; they would need sensors in the top of the phone to make it secure....and their last attempt at that was great functionality but complained about by the tech media.

Thank you for the detailed explanation .

 

[Scott337]

Thank you. I guess this is another place Google cut back to keep their price below the other "flagships" ;_.

Not just Google. I'm not sure if any Android phone other than the Pixel 4 has all of those sensors needed for secure face unlock. That's probably why it's not considered secure on Android.

 

[mustang7757]

Apple's face unlock isn't the holy Grail either. It can be fooled by someone with similar facial features (relatives, twins, etc). I really miss the iris scanner on Samsung devices now that was innovation not to mention the animation choices you had while unlocking the phone.

I like the Iris scanner myself and Samsung ditched it
I think the safest face unlock would be Apple and Pixel 4xl from what i used and worked really good. Im getting my pixel 4xl battery replaced this Sunday with ubreakifix under Google extended battery warranty , its not turning on

 

[buzzy3970]

I like the Iris scanner myself and Samsung ditched it
I think the safest face unlock would be Apple and Pixel 4xl from what i used and worked really good. Im getting my pixel 4xl battery replaced this Sunday with ubreakifix under Google extended battery warranty , its not turning on

Funny thing is if the Iris scanner made a comeback it would be the most preferred thing that it actually works with masks . Samsung always having features ahead of it's time and then removing them. That's the sad part.

 

[mustang7757]

Funny thing is if the Iris scanner made a comeback it would be the most preferred thing that it actually works with masks . Samsung always having features ahead of it's time and then removing them. That's the sad part.

Kinda like Google, they ditched their face unlock ,soli in phones

 

[N4Newbie]

Face Unlock used a lot more than just the front-facing camera; in fact, I'm not sure that it used the "regular" camera at all. If Google adds Face Unlock to the 6 / 6 Pro, it will have to rely solely on the front facing camera.

https://www.androidcentral.com/pixel-4-face-unlock-actually-work

I didn't like Face Unlock at all, but I did get used to it. It was awesome in the colder months when I was wearing gloves, for example; on the other hand, it got sucky again once we all started wearing masks everywhere we went.

So far, I am not liking the fingerprint sensor on the 6 Pro. For one thing, I find the screen so slippery that it is hard to hold my thumb in one place long enough for the sensor to read my print. And, I find the sensor's location inconvenient. Oh, yeah, no matter how many times I re-do it, it still reads my left thumb far more successfully than my right thumb.

My favorite FPS was the one on the Pixel 3 - back of the phone, perfect location. As I pulled the phone out of my left front pocket, my index finger would just automatically find the sensor and the phone would be unlocked even before the screen came into my field of vision.

Among other things, one dislike for Face Unlock was that the phone was often unlocking when I had no intention of doing so. The FPS requires a conscious decision on my part, whereas Face Unlock just did its own thing outside my ability to control it.

 

[anon(40376)]

I will say there is no real gain with face unlock in colder months for me since if I am unlocking my phone I plan on using it and you can't use it while wearing gloves. As for masks, even last year I hardly ever wore a mask; here in Idaho there was always a stipulation where masks were required that if a person has a health risk and couldn't wear a mask they didn't have to and they did not have to show any proof of the condition.
But if I do ever get a P6P I sure would like face unlock vs. FPS as for security, optical FPS is not secure, not hard to reproduce a fingerprint with a good camera; don't even need a Graflex; one of my Nikons would do the trick. All based basically on a photo of the print; not a 3D visual.

 

[N4Newbie]

I will say there is no real gain with face unlock in colder months for me since if I am unlocking my phone I plan on using it and you can't use it while wearing gloves. As for masks, even last year I hardly ever wore a mask; here in Idaho there was always a stipulation where masks were required that if a person has a health risk and couldn't wear a mask they didn't have to and they did not have to show any proof of the condition.
But if I do ever get a P6P I sure would like face unlock vs. FPS as for security, optical FPS is not secure, not hard to reproduce a fingerprint with a good camera; don't even need a Graflex; one of my Nikons would do the trick. All based basically on a photo of the print; not a 3D visual.

I don't know about this.

Face Unlock on the Pixel 4 used true 3D imagery with multiple sensors (see https://www.androidcentral.com/pixel-4-face-unlock-actually-work). At best, the Pixel 6 has only the front facing camera to work with, so 3D would not be possible.

It's worth noting also that even the Pixel 4's face recognition was suspect in my opinion. Through experimentation, I determined that it was only "looking at" the parts of the face between the eyebrows at the top and the bottom of the nose at the bottom. Just like with the FPS, unless you line up 40 or 50 people and ask them to try unlocking your device, you will never know just how secure it really is.

 

[anon(40376)]

I know what the Pixel 4XL has for facial recognition, I have one and looked at this long before purchasing the phone.

However, it would be very easy to program the Pixel 6 to allow for facial recognition to open a locked phone like the Samsung S21U. I had one of those for a few days before returning, and the facial rec worked quite well.

I was told, but didn't have the phone long enough, that for a secured app such as a bank you had to use the FPS to access that app. I didn't see any notation about that when setting up the facial rec of the phone, since I have no secured apps to access (I will never put a secured app on my phone regardless of the security required to access) never tried the feature. Maybe someone with a S21 can answer that.

But how hard would it be to program a 6 to allow for facial rec to open the phone but require the FPS to open secured apps? Since I am not a programmer I have no idea.

However, all this might be immaterial to me. Even though I keep hoping to get a Pixel 6 I keep swaying further to another phone due to what I keep reading about the Pixel 6. A lot will depend on what happens in the near future with S22 reviews and how google steps up to fix the problems in the 6 series.

If the S21U I had for a few days had been able to update the software (OS), and Samsung could get it to update when linked to the phone I probably would have kept it and just moved on. However, after 45 minutes they told me to return the phone, it has some serious problems. Therefore, it was returned and I am back to where I was a few weeks ago. Wanting a Pixel 6Pro but concerned will it work where I live as a phone.

Until then, the 4XL will suffice.

 

[Aflaaaak]

I know what the Pixel 4XL has for facial recognition, I have one and looked at this long before purchasing the phone.

However, it would be very easy to program the Pixel 6 to allow for facial recognition to open a locked phone like the Samsung S21U. I had one of those for a few days before returning, and the facial rec worked quite well.

I was told, but didn't have the phone long enough, that for a secured app such as a bank you had to use the FPS to access that app. I didn't see any notation about that when setting up the facial rec of the phone, since I have no secured apps to access (I will never put a secured app on my phone regardless of the security required to access) never tried the feature. Maybe someone with a S21 can answer that.

But how hard would it be to program a 6 to allow for facial rec to open the phone but require the FPS to open secured apps? Since I am not a programmer I have no idea.

However, all this might be immaterial to me. Even though I keep hoping to get a Pixel 6 I keep swaying further to another phone due to what I keep reading about the Pixel 6. A lot will depend on what happens in the near future with S22 reviews and how google steps up to fix the problems in the 6 series.

If the S21U I had for a few days had been able to update the software (OS), and Samsung could get it to update when linked to the phone I probably would have kept it and just moved on. However, after 45 minutes they told me to return the phone, it has some serious problems. Therefore, it was returned and I am back to where I was a few weeks ago. Wanting a Pixel 6Pro but concerned will it work where I live as a phone.

Until then, the 4XL will suffice.

I'm sure Google will sort out all the problems with the Pixel 6 line. As much as everyone feels like unwitting Beta Testers of a whole new OS being released with a brand spanking new, custom designed chipset, Google has too much riding on this to NOT fix it. If they don't, it would be business suicide and handing the keys to the high end Smart Phone business over to Samsung or Apple.