The hullabaloo around Apple introducing facial recognition for the iPhone X at launch frankly had us Android fans scratching our heads in confusion. The fact is that Face ID/Face Unlock/Trusted Face has become so commonplace in Android that some devices that support it barely mention it as a feature and you actually have to dig deep to even see it.

Face Unlock has been a regular feature since Android 4.1 Jellybean. With the release of Android 5.0 Lollipop, Face Unlock finally came of age and was subsequently rebranded to Trusted Face and added to the Smart Lock lineup. Much as many Android devices support Trusted Face, it appears that phone companies get to have the last word on this one. For this reason, some devices will have it while others might not. If you do, good for you, but if you don’t, there’s nothing much you can do about it.

Now Android One phones, the inheritors of Google’s vision for Android will definitely have Trusted Face and if not, a system update ought to do the trick. Once all is set, all you have to do is look at the screen and you will see the lock icon (a padlock) pop open. From this point on, just slide your screen saver open and you’ll be in.

Here, let’s take you through the process.

How to set Trusted Face to unlock your smartphone

  • Go to settingsClick on Security & LocationNavigate to Encryption & Credentials (You may have to click on the drop-down icons under Advanced) Go to Smart Lock and Re-enter your (phone unlock) password when prompted. Sorry guys but Fingerprint won’t work here even if you had it set up already. Click on Trusted Face to set a new face.

Android One kindly adds a disclaimer about Trusted Face you should keep in mind. We know this for a fact that siblings and other close family members (even strangers) with similar facial features can easily unlock

Improve Face Matching

What Android One has is Face Matching which will show what you look like in different conditions which might include: different lighting, accessories (hats, glasses and makeup)

The more you improve your face recognition, the faster it would be to pick out your face. We actually noticed you can set another face too with no issue at all.