Google may make it easier to manage the places your phone stays unlocked (APK teardown)

If you have an Android device, you can designate certain locations, like your home, as an area where its safe to keep your phone unlocked. This feature is known as Trusted places and it will automatically unlock your handset when you enter the area. Managing your Trusted places takes quite a few steps, but Google may soon make it a little easier to access.

Currently, if you want to access Trusted places, you have to go to Settings > Privacy and Security > More Security & Privacy > Extend Unlock > Enter your pin > Trusted Places. However, in the most recent Google Play Services beta (version 24.34.33), the option has been moved to a different setting.

In the beta, you’ll now find Trusted places in the Location setting. The new path now requires you to go to Settings > Location > Trusted Places (you may still need to enter your screen unlock authentication as before).

We were unable to directly access Trusted places as the option was greyed out. But we were able to access it with the help of Activity Launcher. Not only was Trusted places moved, but after opening the page, we noticed it also got a bit of a redesign.

It’s a new activity that contains some placeholder locations. On top of that, most elements are not working, like deleting and adding a place. Since this is still a work in progress, this is to be expected.

This may not be all that Google is cooking up either. There was a string in the placeholder screen that said “See all settings that use trusted place.” It’s possible that this page will list all the settings — like extended unlock — that can utilize the trusted places list.