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Google is still working on a missing Android 17 feature behind the scenes
3 hours ago
- Although missing from the stable Android 17 launch and recent Canary builds, code in Android 17 QPR1 Beta 6 proves Google is still actively developing native App Lock for Pixels.
- Newly discovered strings in the latest QPR beta reveal that users will be able to lock multiple apps at once directly via Settings, moving away from the tedious one-by-one setup via the Pixel Launcher seen in the Canary build.
- Google is also working on a feature that lets users restrict app access to biometrics, disabling the PIN-unlock fallback option.
Android 17 stable was released last month with a whole bunch of new features, but it was curiously missing one key feature: App Lock. Pixel users have been waiting patiently for a native app lock solution to arrive, and while Android Canary 2603 surfaced the feature, later Canary releases curiously removed support for it. Thankfully, the feature doesn’t seem to have been axed (so far), as we’ve spotted Google continuing to work on it behind the scenes.
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In the latest Android 17 QPR1 Beta 6 release, Google has added new strings that further its work on App Lock:
<string name="app_lock_settings_promo_dialog_title">You can now add app lock to multiple apps at once in Settings</string>This string indicates that you will be able to add App Lock to multiple apps at once through the Settings app. In Canary 2603, users could lock apps only through the Pixel Launcher, and that too, only one app at a time. If you wanted to add App Lock to multiple apps, it could get cumbersome, even though it’s a one-time setup (unless you wanted to frequently add and remove App Lock across multiple apps for some reason).
<string name="app_lock_settings_promo_dialog_description">Quickly add and manage app lock anytime. For extra security, you can also limit access to your apps by requiring only biometrics.</string>In the Canary 2603 release, users could unlock a locked app using their biometrics or PIN. In a future release, Google could let users disable PIN-based unlocking and use only biometrics to unlock their apps, as the string implies.
Sadly, App Lock isn’t available in Android 17 QPR1 Beta 6, so there’s a low chance that the feature makes it to the QPR1 stable release. We’ll keep an eye out for further progress.
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