What you need to knowPixel 9a users on Reddit report receiving support for Google’s Screen-off Fingerprint scanning feature.With this, Pixel 9a users catch-up to Google’s flagships (Pixel 9, Pixel 10) with this feature that lets users unlock their phones without waking their display.Users claim this has started appearing with the March update, a patch that’s been causing some serious problems for users.
If you’ve got Google’s Pixel 9a, you might want to check to see if you’ve got this convenient fingerprint feature.
Over the weekend, users on the Pixel_phones subreddit noticed that a new fingerprint option has arrived with the March update (via PiunikaWeb). The original poster reports that their Pixel 9a has received a “When using Fingerprint Unlock” option in the respective settings menu. This sub-section now houses the Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock toggle. According to the user, the feature “works great on my Pixel 9a.”
Android Central’s Take
You do have to place your finger roughly in the area that you normally would if you could see the little icon. I like this feature as a piece of convenience. To just grab my phone, place my finger, and it’s unlocked sounds pretty cool—it always has. This isn’t a huge, ground-breaking feature, but it’s nice that Google did this for its flagships. Now, more people can use it, as it drops down to its mid-range series.
They add that it does not work on their Pixel 6 Pro, as support most likely didn’t get rolled out for that older generation. A few more reports were added to this Reddit thread. Others have noticed the feature arrive on their Pixel 9a; however, discussions quickly turned sour for Google’s other phone.
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One user reports that they had this fingerprint scanning capability on their Pixel 7 Pro, but Google seemingly removed it with the March 2026 update. This would be strange if it’s happened to even more users, as Google hasn’t publicly mentioned removing such support. As previously mentioned, this was a feature that Google rolled out on its flagships: the Pixel 9 and (now) the Pixel 10 series.
Quick scan
(Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central)
This screen-off fingerprint feature was first reported late in 2024, as Android 16‘s second Developer Preview rolled out for users. Users are already used to the usual runaround: wake your phone, hold your thumb (or finger) to the scanner, and you’re in. With this, you wouldn’t have to wake your display first. Users can hold their thumb against their screen and watch their phone unlock. At the time, the feature was limited to the Pixel 9 series for testing.
Android Central’s Take
This is just a useful feature. I’ve got very little issue with something like this. What I do find strange is the user’s report that says their phone no longer has it following the March update. Google didn’t say anything in its patch notes. I will say that the March update has been causing some serious problems for users, and this might’ve just been another instance of that.
It’s a rather useful feature that basically streamlines things. It’s also toggleable, meaning you don’t need to have this on if the usual method doesn’t bother you. Elsewhere, that one user mentioning this feature’s disappearance on their phone reminds us of the problems the March update has been causing. Pixel users have been complaining that the AOD (always-on display) has been freezing nonstop since updating. More than that, the Pixel Watch’s SpO2 and skin temperature haven’t been working, nor has Fitbit’s step tracking.