14 DAY TRIAL // Google is removing the NFC Smart Unlock feature from Android only for people that are just logging in their accounts.
It’s not uncommon for Google to remove features from Android. In fact, this happened lots of times when it's time to deprecate or retire some technology that’s no longer relevant to the current generation of users.
The removal of NFC Smart Unlock for new logins is a strange decision because it doesn’t really fit the established pattern. It wasn’t an old technology, and if anything it was just starting to take off. It’s still a relatively new addition, and it’s very likely that most users didn’t even know that it existed.
The function allowed the phones to act as a real security token based on the NFC technology, removing the need for a third-party device.
It’s not about the feature, it’s about the message it sends
The fact that Google is removing NFC Smart Unlock is not the actual problem. It’s their product, and they can do anything they want, but they are doing this without telling people and without explaining the reasons behind it.
A Reddit user has put together a comprehensive description of the problem, but the possible motives for the decision are still unclear. What we do know is that NFC Smart Unlock is no longer available for people that just logged into Android, but the users currently logged in will continue to make use of it.
The developers have yet to say why this feature is no longer available, and just mentioned in a report from the Google Issue Tracker: “SmartLock NFC feature has been deprecated for new users. If you are not existing NFC users, the option will be hidden.”
A likely explanation is that NFC Smart Unlock has some kind of vulnerability that can’t be fixed right away through a software patch, and the easiest solution is just to pull the plug. Since this is rather new technology, it’s likely that we’ll see something similar arriving in the near future to replace it.
Update:
We received word from Andrew Brennan, PR for Google, that pointed us towards a response from one of the engineers. It looks like it's just a matter of low usage and better alternatives, and it has nothing to do with security. Here is the entire comment, and you can check out the entire support thread. "Smart Lock provides seamless and secure methods of unlocking your Android phone. For example, you can keep your device unlocked when it’s connected to your Bluetooth devices such as your smartwatch or car, or when it’s in a trusted place, such as your home. Since Smart Lock was launched in Android 5.0, we have added more methods of unlocking, such as On-Body detection and made several security improvements to the different unlock methods. Today, many Android phones also support Fingerprint authentication which provides another convenient way to unlock your phone. We constantly evaluate unlock mechanisms and evolve them. Our end goal is to provide the best possible experience for you that balances security, simplicity and convenience. We constantly make product decisions based on multiple factors including usage, the value we provide, your feedback, and the availability of alternatives. In the case of NFC unlock, we’ve seen extremely low usage. At the same time, there are alternatives available now that are easy to use, are secure and have much wider adoption. Given this, we decided to disable NFC unlock. However, if you have NFC unlock currently set up, you can continue to use it until you reset your device, switch to a different device, or explicitly remove the NFC tag from Smart Lock settings. We apologize to those of you who are affected by this and we’re sorry for any inconvenience. We encourage you to use a different unlock method in Smart Lock, such as Trusted Bluetooth devices, Trusted Places, or On-body detection, all of which we believe to provide a better user experience."