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Here's how Google plans to let you use Pixel's face unlock in the dark
Oct 21, 2026 — 1:59 AM ET
- Code found in Android 17 QPR 3 Beta 2 offers insights into Pixel’s upcoming “Face Active Illumination” feature.
- The feature will brighten the Pixel’s display to help with face unlock in dark environments.
- Google will let users adjust the brightness level and configure the feature to work in specific situations.
Earlier this month, we spotted Google working on a new “Face Active Illumination” system for Pixel devices. The code we found back then didn’t offer much clarity on whether the feature would be related to Google’s Project Toscana or something else. Well, we now have a much better idea of what this upcoming feature will look like.
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While digging through code in Android 17 QPR3 Beta 2, we uncovered several additional strings that give us a much clearer picture of the “Face Active Illumination” feature. With a bit of tinkering, we also enabled the feature on our test device. The main “Face Unlock” settings page previously showed a blank field, but we now got the field title to show up.
Most importantly, this isn’t related to Project Toscana, which is Google’s secret, more advanced face unlock system. It’s simply an option to brighten your phone’s display to help with camera-based face unlock in low light. The feature will likely be titled “Brighten screen in low light” in the Face Unlock settings on your Pixel device. However, the secondary screen that displayed untitled toggles and sliders last time was completely blank this time around. Clearly, Google is still working on the UI for this upcoming feature.
We also found several new strings that were previously obfuscated. According to these strings, you will see a one-time confirmation prompt when you first enable the feature. This prompt will include a warning that some accessibility settings may temporarily behave differently when your screen is brightened.
Other strings point to a slider that lets users adjust the feature’s brightness level. This slider could range from a “Comfort” setting to a “Reliable” setting. The comfort setting will likely use lower illumination, while the reliable setting will use higher (or perhaps maximum) illumination to reliably unlock your Pixel even in complete darkness.
By default, the feature will only brighten the screen when the user’s face is partially visible, according to the strings we found. However, users can turn on the “Complete darkness” setting to brighten the screen when it’s too dark for their face to be even partially visible. The default behavior can be helpful if you don’t want to be flashbanged by your phone screen late at night.
Google will also let users choose to turn the feature on and off for different situations. The strings we found so far suggest toggles for using (or not using) the feature when Do Not Disturb mode is enabled, during Bedtime hours, or while driving.
Here are all the strings related to Face Active Illumination that we found:
<string name="active_illumination_bedtime_summary">Can brighten when Bedtime mode is on</string>
<string name="active_illumination_bedtime_title">Bedtime mode</string>
<string name="active_illumination_brightness_end_label">Reliable</string>
<string name="active_illumination_brightness_start_label">Comfort</string>
<string name="active_illumination_brightness_summary">Lower settings may reduce reliability</string>
<string name="active_illumination_brightness_title">Brightness level</string>
<string name="active_illumination_dark_summary">Can brighten to find your face when it’s too dark. When turned off, only brightens if your face is partially visible</string>
<string name="active_illumination_dark_title">Complete darkness</string>
<string name="active_illumination_dnd_summary">Can brighten when Do Not Disturb is on</string>
<string name="active_illumination_driving_summary">Can brighten when a car ride is detected</string>
<string name="active_illumination_driving_title">Driving</string>
<string name="active_illumination_footer_text">When this feature is turned on, the following accessibility settings may temporarily behave differently: extra dim, remove animations, or color inversion</string>
<string name="active_illumination_gating_category_title">Use screen brightening with</string>
<string name="face_active_illumination_dialog_message">When your screen brightens, accessibility settings may temporarily behave differently</string>
<string name="face_active_illumination_dialog_title">Turn on brighten screen in low light?</string>
<string name="face_active_illumination_dialog_turn_on">Turn on</string>
<string name="face_active_illumination_main_switch_title">Use screen brightening</string>
<string name="face_active_illumination_summary">Automatically boost screen brightness so Face Unlock works in dim lighting</string>
<string name="face_active_illumination_title">Brighten screen in low light</string>
<string name="face_active_illumination_top_intro">Automatically boost screen brightness so Face Unlock works in dim lighting</string>Google has yet to announce any details about Face Active Illumination, and judging by the unfinished UI, it’s still very much a work in progress. We’ll keep an eye out for more details and update you as we learn more.
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