Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is testing new functionality as part of the Pixel Watch Unlock feature, which allows you to unlock your Pixel phone using the Watch.
- The upgrade could enable you to not only unlock your Pixel phone using a Pixel Watch but also launch a specific section of the app.
- The feature is intended to work with a set of specific “Authorized” apps that you will be able to manage from the phone’s Settings.
The Watch Unlock feature offers a convenient approach to automatically unlocking a Google Pixel phone — and keeping it unlocked — when your Pixel Watch is nearby. When enabled, it allows you to unlock the phone by simply swiping up or tapping a notification on the lock screen. Now, Google is testing new ways to unlock the screen and launching specific actions within certain apps on the phone.
We’ve learned that Google is experimenting with a new aspect for Watch Unlock, called “Authorized Apps”. This functionality primarily caters to the “Open on phone” feature on many apps, such as Google Messages or WhatsApp.
When you tap the button on the Pixel Watch, it will enable not just unlocking the phone but also loading a specific page or section within an app. This should allow a low-friction path to completing a particular action after continuing from the Watch. We found information about this feature buried in version 25.37.31 beta of Google Play Services, although it’s not live for everyone just yet.
According to the description we saw, the action will only work with certain Authorized Apps. This list of apps is only likely to include certain trusted apps by default. However, users will have the option to add or remove apps from the list.
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Besides this addition, the Watch Unlock functionality is expected to remain fundamentally unchanged. Notably, while we were able to spot those changes, we haven’t been able to get it to work to confirm the apps under the Authorized category.
Additionally, it’s worth noting that this functionality is limited if you use both the Google Pixel Watch and a Pixel smartphone (4a or newer). We’re unsure if Google might expand it beyond its own devices to a broader category of all watches running Wear OS, but will ensure informing you if it does.
⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
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