Samsung may allow users to unlock phones with voice command

The feature is said to be part of One UI 3.1, which will reportedly debut with Samsung Galaxy S2 next year.

Hey Bixby, unlock my phone (Bloomberg)

Samsung is gearing up to launch Galaxy S21 series early next year. While it's safe to predict the flagship phones will come with big specifications upgrade, Samsung also has big plans for its Bixby voice assistant. According to reports, Samsung will add a voice recognition support to unlock your phone.

Sammobile reports that Samsung's One UI 3.1 will allow users to select Bixby Voice as a biometric method for unlocking the device.  The One UI 3.1 is expected to debut with Galaxy S21 series. The software update is most likely to be available on other Galaxy phones as well.

As of now, it is not clear how this feature will work. It is worth noting that Google offered similar voice-based functionality with the Assistant. The company, however, removed the voice matching feature in 2018 over security concerns.

The new report comes weeks after Samsung rolled out a new update for its Bixby voice assistant. The new version comes with a new look that includes an updated icon and visual refresh.

That said, it is the first big leak around a possible upgrade to Bixby voice assistant. Samsung's digital assistant has been around on all top Galaxy phones for quite some time. Launched in 2017 to take on Apple's Siri and Google's Assistant, Samsung made various efforts to push Bixby among its users.

Evidently, Bixby hasn't really taken off the way Samsung would have liked. Google, in the meanwhile, has continued to improve Assistant for Android users. The digital assistant, which also supports Google Lens and voice commands, has now deeper integration with a variety of Android phones.