Google finally adds 'eyes open' option to Pixel 4 face unlock

If you own a Pixel 4 or Pixel 4 XL, the Android 10 April update will make your phone that much more secure by finally introducing the ability to require eyes be open for face unlock.

Even before the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL launched last October it was discovered that the face unlock feature had a serious security flaw. While it required seeing your face to unlock the phone, the unlock process didn't care if your eyes were open or not. In other words, someone could unlock your Pixel 4 while you slept.

Google quickly responded to the backlash over this revelation and promised to fix the security oversight. As 9To5Google reports, the fix finally happened this week with the roll out of the Pixel 4 April update. Once installed, the update adds a new face unlock setting that can be toggled on or off, called "Require eyes to be open."

Requiring eyes be open to face unlock a Pixel 4 should be turned on by default, and hopefully it will for new Pixel handsets from now on. However, it looks as though existing Pixel 4 users need to enable it, which is worth doing for the security enhancement alone, but it should also help reduce accidental unlocks, too.