How to Unlock Your Pixel Using Pixel Watch
I’m a big fan of what Google is doing with its line of Pixel Watches and Pixel phones . These devices are some of the best ways to use Android on a smartwatch or smartphone, and Google is constantly improving them. One particularly useful feature that Pixel Watch owners can take advantage of is the watch unlock feature that Google introduced in late 2023.
It’s a fairly well-hidden feature that Google doesn’t actively advertise, and unlike the Apple Watch, which has watch unlocking enabled by default, you’ll have to manually enable the feature on the Pixel Watch.
How watch unlocking works
Watch Unlock is a really handy feature that allows your smartwatch to effectively bypass other lock screen security features. This is great for when you need to access your phone but don’t want to fiddle with face unlock or entering a password or fingerprint. In other words, you can keep your phone safe if it’s stolen or lost, but when it’s just you in the office or home, you won’t have to go through the same hoops while your watch is nearby.
If the watch unlock feature is enabled, you can hold your watch close to your phone, then unlock it, and based on some other settings you’ve chosen (which we’ll touch on in more detail in a moment), you’ll be given instant access to the screen you were last using times, or you will be able to swipe up to access the device without having to enter the unlock code.
How to use watch unlock on Pixel Watch
Now that you know a little more about Watch Unlock, let’s talk about how to actually use it. The first thing you’ll need is a Pixel Watch or Pixel Watch 2 and a Pixel phone running Android 13 or later, like the Pixel 8 Pro . Unfortunately, unlocking the watch on the Pixel Watch doesn’t seem to work with any other Android devices, so unless you have a full pair, you’ll be out of luck using this handy little feature.
It’s also worth noting that watch unlocking on the Pixel Watch doesn’t offer the same functionality as on the Apple Watch, where I have the most experience with the feature. On Apple Watch, you can use the Watch Unlock feature to unlock both your phone and other Apple devices, and you can also use it to unlock your phone. The Pixel doesn’t offer this feature, but perhaps Google will add it in the future, since it’s really nice to not always have to type code on a tiny screen like on a smartwatch.
If you have the required devices—a Pixel Watch and a Pixel phone—you can take advantage of the watch unlock feature by activating it by following these steps:
First, go to the Google Pixel Watch app on your Pixel phone. Tap Watch Settings > Security > Watch Unlock and turn it on.
You can also enable it in Android settings by going to Settings > Security & Privacy > Device Unlock > Face & Fingerprint Unlock > Watch Unlock . Either method will send you a set of on-screen instructions that end with activating the watch to unlock.
Now that Watch Unlock is activated, you can use it in several ways. As I mentioned earlier, how quickly you can access your phone after using Watch Unlock will depend on some specific settings. If Skip Lock Screen is enabled in your phone’s settings, then if the Pixel Watch on your wrist is unlocked and next to your phone, it will take you straight to the last screen you used. If you don’t have Skip Lock Screen enabled, your phone will be unlocked, but the lock screen will still be displayed and you’ll need to swipe up to access the rest of your device.