Android 16 Beta 4 Quietly Removes A Small But Useful Pixel Feature
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Summary
- Android 16 Beta 4 focuses on bug fixes, but it seems to have removed a handy feature.
- The Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock toggle has gone missing from Pixels after updating to the newest Android 16 beta.
- The feature still works, but Google may decide to disable it entirely on older Pixels with the stable Andorid 16 release later this year.
Android 16 probably took its final step toward a stable launch in June, as Google released its fourth beta yesterday. The company’s official release note for the update indicates that Beta 4 primarily focuses on fixing the lingering bugs. But it seems that Android 16 Beta 4 also inadvertently removes some features found in previous beta builds of the OS.
Related
Several Pixel users on Reddit report that the “Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock” option has disappeared from their phones after installing the latest Android 16 beta. This does seem to be the case, as the option vanished on my Pixel 8 Pro after updating to the newest Android 16 build. But the option is still present on another Pixel 8 running the older beta.
Google first added screen-off fingerprint unlock on the Pixel 9 with Android 16 DP2 and expanded it to older Pixels with the third beta. Located under Settings > Security & privacy > Device unlock > Face & Fingerprint Unlock > Fingerprint Unlock, the feature allows you to unlock your Pixel using the fingerprint scanner even when the display is off. This is exactly how the fingerprint scanner works on other Android phones, such as those from Samsung and OnePlus. It removes an unnecessary step in the unlocking process, making it faster overall.
The good news is that despite the missing option, the feature still works. So, placing your finger on the scanner will automatically unlock your Pixel if it recognizes your fingerprint. If the feature doesn’t work for you, try restarting your Pixel, as this trick has worked for many users.
Will Google drop the feature entirely with the stable release of Android 16?
The issue is that without the toggle, there’s no way to enable or disable the feature. So, if you did not already have “Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock” turned on before updating to Android 16 beta 4, the feature may not work for you.
Since screen-off fingerprint unlock continues to work even though the toggle is missing, Google may have inadvertently removed the toggle. Or it could be that the company decided to restrict the feature to the Pixel 9 series, as they are the only ones to ship with an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner.
We will have to wait for the stable Android 16 release in June to know what Google ultimately decides.
