Android will make more efficient identity check thanks to the pixel watch as a trusted element

Google seems ready to make its own anti -theft protection more effective e slim Thanks to a novelty that uses theIntegration between smartphones and smartwatch making the latter central in the experience.

Soon, in fact, users connected to a Pixel Watch will be able to use their PIN or password as an alternative to biometric recognition, even outside the places considered “reliable”.

Identity Check: What is and why it’s important

Android offers several tools to protect data in case of theft. Among these, Identity Check It is designed to prevent the attackers from accessing sensitive functions such as the Google Password Manager, where user’s credentials are saved.

If the phone is used in a place not recognized as sureaccess to apps and critical settings always and only requires a biometric verification (fingerprint or facial recognition).

However, rigidity also has a price: for the legitimate user, Identity Check can turn into a daily annoyance; A inconvenience that in recent months has led to a crescendo of reports of users stuck outside their smartphone.

When security becomes inconvenience

In normal conditions, scanning or face scan is faster than the pin. But there are scenarios in which this procedure becomes problematic such as wearing a mask or gloves, which prevent biometric recognition, find themselves in low light situations or have the sensor of the fingerprints momentarily unusable perhaps because of the dirty or wet fingers.

In these cases, Identity check, however, obliges a remove obstacles and repeat the scanwith inevitable waste of time. Many users, exasperated, end up for completely deactivate the functionfrustrating the security goal for which it had been designed.

Google’s solution: the smartwatch as a trusted factor

To reduce these frictions, Google has decided to make an intelligent identity check.

The always attentive Mishaal Rahman of Androidauthority has carved out in the QPR2 Of Android 16currently in beta, discovering a function for which the system will be able to exploit the proximity of a pixel watch to ensure an additional level of trust.

In addition, the journalist also found a promotional card that presents the function to the path Settings> Privacy & Security.

According to this card, it serves to highlight how “Identity Check works with your Pixel Watch“.

In practice, if the watch is connected and close to the phone, the user can choose whether to use biometry or pin/password even outside the trusted places.

The idea behind it is that it is extremely unlikely that a thief can subtract both the smartphone and the smartwatch at the same time. Therefore, the presence of the pixel watch on the wrist becomes sufficient proof that the owner is actually who declares to be.

What changes with Android 16 QPR2

The novelty introduces two substantial differences compared to current management:

• Expansion of protection: Identity Check will be applied to a greater number of apps. Any software that uses the biometric bees of Android will be protected. In practice, it will no longer be possible to replace biometric authentication with only PIN when you are in non -trusted places.
• Integration with Pixel Watch: with a connected supported clock, the system will return to allow the PIN as a safe alternative, alongside biometry.

An important detail that emerged in the analysis of the code concerns the limited compatibility. According to some strings in the system, The function could only be reserved for Pixel Watch 3 and later.

The reasons are not entirely clear. One possibility is that the new system exploits UWB (Ultra Wideband), available only in the most recent models, to guarantee a precise detection of the proximity between smartphones and smartwatches.

Another hypothesis is that these are a commercial choice of Google, aimed at differentiating the latest generation of wearable devices.

When will the function arrive?

Although there are still no precise dates, since it is a currently hidden function, its introduction is expected with the stable version of Android 16 QPR2, planned by the end of the year.

At the moment, the function was spotted only in the beta, within an information sheet in the system safety settings.

Interested users will have to wait for the official rollout to find out if their smartwatch is supported or if the exclusive will remain the prerogative of the Watch 3 pixels.

Well, with this novelty, Google shows that you want to listen to user feedback, finding a compromise between rigor of safety and practical needs of those who use the smartphone every day.