Google could soon solve Pixel’s biggest face unlock flaw

TL;DR Code within Android 17 QPR3 Beta 1 reveals Google is working on a “Face Active Illumination” feature, likely designed to assist face unlock in low light.

Code clues suggest controls for a brightness scale, as well as toggles for bedtime, driving, dark environments, and Do Not Disturb.

The feature likely uses display brightness rather than IR technology, though its connection to Google’s rumored Project Toscana couldn’t be ruled out.

Google’s modern face unlock on recent Pixel flagships is Class 3 biometric certified, but as anyone who has tried unlocking their phone in a dim bedroom knows, it is practically useless once the lights go down. That shortcoming has long fueled anticipation around Google’s secretive Project Toscana, an effort to overhaul facial authentication across Pixel devices, Chromebooks, and presumably Googlebooks by extension. …