We already knew that, like the Apple Watch, Google’s Pixel Watch will come with a slew of bands. But, beyond the aesthetics, the Mountain View business went out of its way to steal additional concepts from its rival.
It seems that a very useful function seen on Apple’s smartwatches advantages the first linked watch in the line. It’s about Nearby Unlock, a feature that lets you use your linked watch to quickly unlock your smartphone.
Mishaal Rahman, a developer, and leaker, discovered an animation demonstrating how Nearby Unlock works on a current beta version of Google Play Services. It can’t be a coincidence with just a few months till the Pixel Watch is out.
This functionality is virtually expected to be included in Google’s future watch. It’s unclear if the latter will be accessible on other connected watch models running Wear OS 3 or whether it will initially be a Pixel Watch-only feature.
If the user does not wish to utilize the function, Nearby Unlock may be turned off. According to Google, it is practical to access alerts and the voice assistant more quickly or when the face or fingerprint identification is ineffective.
“Your smartphone must be within reach, on your wrist, and your watch must be unlocked. The watch stays unlocked as long as it is worn on the wrist after being unlocked “The animation teaches us.
When the smartphone is unlocked, Google additionally specifies that a notice be delivered to the watch. It is possible to lock the phone from its wristwatch by tapping on this notification.
The Pixel Watch, which was announced at the Google I/O conference’s opening keynote, does not yet have an official release date, although it is quite likely to be launched in October with the Pixel 7.