Don’t you get annoyed when you are reading something on the internet and your Android phone decides to sleep and unlock itself on you. Well, fret not as Google has quietly introduced on-body detection feature to Android devices running Lollipop. As the name suggests, this cool feature will keep your phone’s screen unlocked when you are holding it – saving you the the trouble of having to unlock your phone a zillion times a day.
In the recent past, we have seen many high-end smartphones – such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge – using a fingerprint scanner to provide a secure and convenient screen unlocking experience. But the on-body unlocking feature doesn’t even require dedicated hardware for it.
Using your accelerometer, the on-body feature figures out when your device is in use or not and locks the screen accordingly. It is definitely a blessing for those who don’t want to unlock their phones multiple times while on the go without compromising on security. Some people are also used to keeping their default screen timeout quite short for saving power and they will definitely love it.
However, if you are thinking of enabling the on-body feature, it doesn’t come without risks. Its biggest downside is the fact that it cannot detect whether the phone is being used by you or someone else. It means if someone snatches it away from you while you are using it, he will be able to access your personal data as the phone will not lock the screen itself. But if you can overlook this minor glitch, the on-body feature makes your smartphone experience quite easy and hassle-free.
Source: engadget
This feature will not keep the phone awake, only unlocked. With it enabled the screen will still dim and turn off after the timeout period, but you will not need to enter your PIN/Password/whatever to unlock it.