- A new Pixel Watch feature has been spotted
- It would auto-lock your phone if your watch was disconnected
- We’re not sure when the feature may launch
Code spotted in the latest Pixel Watch app for Android suggests there’s a new feature on the way for the Google Pixel Watch 3 and older models: the ability to have your phone automatically lock itself when it’s out of range of your smartwatch.
This code was found by the team at Android Authority, and while it hasn’t been enabled yet – and there’s no word yet on when it might be – the feature would be a useful security upgrade if you pair a Pixel Watch with an Android smartphone.
The idea is that if someone should swipe your phone without you knowing, or if you should happen to leave your handset behind without realizing it, you’d have the reassurance that your phone would automatically lock itself.
According to the newly discovered code, this feature could be called ‘lock on disconnect’ or something along those lines. With a little tweaking, one user has managed to make the setting show up in their Pixel Watch app.
This isn’t something that’s currently offered by any other wearable at the moment – including the best Apple Watches – though you can of course remotely lock an Android phone at any time using the Find My Device service from Google.
With no official announcement about this feature, it’s difficult to predict when we might see it rolled out. Nothing was said at the recent Google I/O 2025 conference, but Google does tend to roll out software updates all across the year.
Presumably, once the feature goes live for Pixel Watch devices, it might then be pushed out into the code for Wear OS. That would then enable wearables like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra to take advantage of it.
What you can already do with your Pixel Watch is use it to unlock your smartphone: so if the watch is nearby, you don’t need to keep unlocking your phone. This would be a useful extra function to add to that, once it eventually rolls out.
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