Since last year, the Google Pixel Watch has used the Watch Unlock feature to unlock your phone instead of using a traditional passcode or biometrics like fingerprint or facial recognition. Now, the company is working on upgrading Watch unlock to use ultra-wideband (UWB) connectivity, which the Pixel Watch 3 hints at coming with the functionality.
According to 9to5Google, in the Play Services app, Google has continually introduced new codes to upgrade Watch Unlock (referred to internally as “Active Unlock”) to use ultra-wideband connectivity, meaning potentially The appearance hints at Pixel Watch 3 functionality.
Notably, UWB technology is available in all countries but is not yet allowed in some countries like Indonesia and Ukraine, so Google has designed a way to automatically turn off this advanced version of Watch Unlock in those regions. . ,
Additionally, when traveling to one of these countries that does not support UWB technology, you will receive a notification about unlocking the watch: Watch Unlock is temporarily off
<string name=”downgrade_channel_name”>Downgrade</string>
<string name=”downgrade_channel_description”>Shown when Watch Unlock is temporarily unavailable due to ranging method restriction.</string>
Watch Unlock is temporarily off
Ultra-wideband is unavailable in this country. You can still use Watch Unlock but may experience a slight delay and less accuracy.
One thing to note is that both your watch and phone must have the necessary hardware to unlock the watch via UWB. “Pro” versions of Google’s Pixel phones have included UWB support since the Pixel 6 Pro, although as of yet, the Pixel Watch series does not.
Given this and the fact that Watch Unlock is currently exclusive to the Pixel Watch series, we believe this suggests that the Pixel Watch 3 will include ultra-wideband connectivity.
