Android 16 DP2 makes fingerprint unlocking more versatile

fingerprint scanner provide a convenient and secure way to unlock your smartphone, but they don’t always actively scan your fingerprint. This is really just an issue with the under-screen fingerprint scanner, though, as the screen usually needs to be woken up before the device can activate the fingerprint scanner. Every Pixel phone with an under-screen fingerprint scanner works this way, but luckily it won’t last long, at least for Google Pixel 9.

Google releases second developer preview Android 16 Earlier today, while digging into an update for the Pixel 9 Pro, I came across a feature calledScreen off fingerprint unlocking“Underneath Settings > Security & Privacy > Device Unlock > Face & Fingerprint Unlock > Fingerprint Unlock. Its description says you can “Use your fingerprint to unlock even when the screen is off”.

The screen-off fingerprint unlock feature is very simple and works exactly as described on the Pixel 9 Pro I’m running Android 16 DP2. Here’s a short video demonstrating it:

Shortly after publishing this article, we discovered that under-screen fingerprint unlocking would not be available on older Pixel phones running Android 16 DP2. Digging into the code of the Settings app, we learned that the feature will only appear on phones equipped with ultrasonic under-screen fingerprint scanners, which does not include the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9 Pro XL All Pixels.

Anyway, if you don’t want to install Android 16 DP2 on your Pixel 9 just to try it out, or you have an older Pixel, then I recommend you try enabling the existing options like “Always show time and information“, “Elevator check phone“, or”Click to view phone number“Underneath Settings > Display & touch > Lock screen. The first feature makes the fingerprint sensor always active, as the always-on display keeps the display on. The second feature lets the fingerprint sensor scan your finger as soon as you pick up the phone, while the third lets you wake up the screen with a single tap to activate the fingerprint scanner.

Also available on Android 16 DP2 7 new emojis in Unicode 16.0 and many new developer features. We’re still digging into the update to see what’s new, so stay tuned for more coverage from us!