Smartphone lock screens perform the daunting task of keeping prying eyes out of your device, but they also have to balance speed and ease of use. Some methods like a fingerprint or a PIN are safer than others likeface unlock, but usually, the level of security and ease of use are inversely correlated. To buck this trend a little, Google is making PIN unlocking on Android a little more convenient, provided your PIN is secure enough to qualify.
While it is obvious one can trick optical face unlock with a picture of the device owner, even a relatively more secure option like a PIN can be cracked if someone is peeping over your shoulder. However, longer PIN codes make this job harder, and as a reward of sorts for using a more secure option,Android 14Beta 2 jumps directly to your last-opened app or home screen after you enter the last digit of an at least six-digit PIN. You don’t need to tap Enter to submit the PIN you typed out, saving you a few seconds every time you unlock your phone.
This feature, aptly namedAuto-confirm unlock, wasfirst spotted in Android 14 DP2which rolled out in March this year, but it wasn’t functional at the time. Android expertMishaal Rahman reportsAuto-confirm unlock works on the latestAndroid 14 Beta 2 release, even though the actual toggle to turn it on it is still hidden from sight and requires sending an ADB command to enable. An older screenshot of the settings toggle mentions Auto-confirm is slightly less secure than hitting the button every time, but that security risk is offset by the longer PIN, which should be harder to crack.
With that functional improvement out of the way, Beta 2 also brings a slight cosmetic tweak to the lock screen. When you type out the pin, the animation for the dots appearing on the screen has changed — you should see different shapes with each keypress.
Pay close attention to the animation of the on-screen dots
Effectively, Android 14 Beta 2 makes PIN unlocks slightly more convenient and visually appealing, especially if you prefer longer security codes. Hopefully, the toggle becomes more easily accessible in a future beta update.
While we encourage you to use longer PINs and safer authentication systems likepasskeys, the ease of use of the former remains debatable, even with this improvement. If you want an even more secure experience using PINs, try switching on theEnhanced PIN privacy toggle. It disables all the animations when typing your code, keeping your phone safer from people looking over your shoulder.
