Google has every incentive to ensure that its wide range of products functions flawlessly within the Android ecosystem, and the firm earlier this year showed off a few ways it could do so, including a brand-new technique for unlocking your phone using your smartwatch. The Pixel Watch will be able to keep your phone effortlessly unlocked as long as specific conditions are met thanks to its Watch Unlock feature. This feature might not be restricted to Google's smartwatches in the future; it might also be added to Samsung's Galaxy Watches.
On the other hand, at this time, the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 series cannot make the same claim. However, when those older models receive an update to One UI Watch 5 (Android 13), Active Unlock is likely to come to those older models as well.
When the function is operational, as demonstrated by AssembleDebug on Twitter, it will make it much simpler to unlock your phone on occasions when your finger is wet, which may make it difficult for your phone's fingerprint sensor to read it.
After you swipe up from the lock screen or press a notification, the phone should automatically scan for a face or read a fingerprint. Active Unlock is made to function when biometric scanners malfunction. Then, in order to unlock your phone, it will look for a nearby Wear OS watch that is on your wrist, unlocked, and linked to your phone.
This approach, however, may be less secure and, in some circumstances, may unlock your phone even if you are not wearing your smartwatch, as stated on the setup page for Watch Unlock. Although it's unclear at the moment whether other Wear OS watches will receive this feature as well, once it becomes broadly accessible, it's likely to raise some eyebrows in the security world.
