Some Pixel users are reporting gaining impromptu access to a seamless biometric experience, at least on one of the companies' best mid-rangers.
For reference, the 'seamless biometric experience' enabler that I'm talking about is the option to use fingerprint biometric authentication with the screen turned off.
The feature, which is available across the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and the Pixel 10 Pro XL, is now starting to appear on older Pixel 9a devices.
First highlighted by Reddit user Intelligent-Trip-882 in a recent post, via PiunikaWeb, the toggle to enable 'Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock' is now showing up on the mid-ranger.
This comes soon after Google's internal release debacle, which resulted in the feature's availability being inconsistent.
For reference, the feature first started showing up in Android 16's early developer previews, only for it to be removed in later-released builds.
It subsequently made its way to the Pixel 9 and later released devices with Android 16 QPR2, but support for last year's mid-ranger was missing at the time.
For what it's worth, the feature doesn't seem to have made its way to older Pixels. I tried to enable it on my Pixel 8 running Android 17 Beta 2, but the option is simply not there.
If and when widely available, the feature should make the process of unlocking your Pixel at least one tap quicker.
Has the feature started making its way to your older Pixels? You can check by heading to your Pixel's Settings app > Security & privacy > Device unlock > Fingerprint Unlock > Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock.
Let us know in the comments below!
