Android 16 QPR2 was introduced by Google in December 2025 and didn't just implant some cool features for today; it injected life back into one of the most anticipated features from the past.
Blast from the Past: Screen-Off Fingerprint Unlock
The Screen-Off Fingerprint Unlock has certainly set the standard now and, therefore, the routine in one's Pixel phone since using a fingerprint sensor to boot the device is literally the same as putting your finger on a sensor-just.
This was a feature on the Android 16 Developer Preview 2 (and only on the Pixel 9 lineup of devices), and then it just disappeared through several IDE changes as the beta advanced.
It has been reintroduced in QPR2 stable; though still, it is unavailable to all Pixels, i.e. it is exclusively for in-display ultrasonic-based fingerprint sensors, meaning the Pixel 9 model.
Significance of This Feature by Google
* Cons: Before this, fingerprint scanning was only possible when the screen was on, rendering the Always-On Display required. This does not now apply.
* Easiest to directly unlock the phone without the need for turning on the screen while trying to view it at night or in a somewhat dim light.
* Privacy and quickness: Unlocking the phone will keep it turned away from the viewer and would therefore go more quickly, also being beneficial mostly when discussed from this angle.
For What Cannot
As for All-that is one thing-that might not seem so: Yes, it will not be announced here that all Google Pixel sessions will nor or will not generally gain something like that; but for Pixels launched starting from Pixel 9, the feature will be present.
The feature will not be provided either to the old Pixels or those devices with an optical-on-display fingerprint sensor since the latter usually needs light and screen close proximity to function.
Implementation
In cases where an update is supported on a Google Pixel phone:
Settings → Security & privacy → Device unlock → Fingerprint. From there, turn on "Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock"; thereafter, your phone will unlock with your fingerprint even when the screen is off.
Conclusion
This very much-awaited feature of Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock, which Google wrote first in the Android 16 QPR2 update, makes accessing one's phone in an easier, rote, life sort of way when the said screen has gone off. No, this will not suggest that some kind of fingerprint reader should be present on each addition of Pixel-just which Pixels are up to the feature, being compatible to afford them the quickest and easiest mode of operation.
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