Samsung’s OneUI Watch 5 Brings Google’s Watch Unlock Feature

Samsung has started rolling out the OneUI 5 Watch update to its Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5. This update includes a number of new features and improvements. But one of the most interesting new features is support for the Watch Unlock feature. 

The feature was first announced earlier this year as a part of Wear OS 4 and was demonstrated on the Pixel Watch. It works by automatically unlocking your phone when your unlocked smartwatch is nearby. This is similar to how the Apple Watch can unlock an iPhone. 

With the Watch Unlock feature coming to OneUI 5 Watch, users can now unlock their smartphones without entering a PIN, password, or using biometric authentication, as long as they are wearing a Wear OS 4 smartwatch. This would be helpful for scenarios like when users are driving and wearing a helmet, or when their fingers are wet or dirty.

The feature was first discovered by Android enthusiast Mishaal Rahman for the Pixel Watch a few days ago. Ærmando later discovered the Watch Unlock feature (com.google.android.clockwork.active_unlock) in the One UI 5 Watch update.

Also, it’s important to note that, Watch Unlock is a more secure way to keep your phone unlocked than Trusted Devices. Unlike Trusted Devices, which only keep your phone unlocked for a certain period of time, Watch Unlock only unlocks your phone when your smartwatch is also unlocked. To use this feature, you need to set a PIN or password for your smartwatch.

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