Google Confirms Pixel’s Night Light And Fingerprint Reader Swipe Gestures Not Coming To Nexus 6P, 5X Devices

Google has confirmed that Pixel's night light as well as fingerprint reader swipe gestures will not be rolled out for Nexus 6P and 5X devices. In a recent Google+ post, team member Ian Blake has confirmed that neither of these Pixel phones features will appear in the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X.

Android 7.1 Nougat developer preview is about to come out, so, Nexus phones are definitely going to have Pixel's software. As the upcoming software is currently just a dev preview, it cannot be clearly said which features are missing out from the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X Models.

What’s the difference between the Nexus 6P vs Google Pixel XL? We explain what you need to know https://t.co/NZdpEY1CcH

— Esther Turón Perez (@huhuzgz) October 19, 2016

Why Nexus Models 5X And 6P Won't Have Pixel's Features?

Well, this is probably the first time when Google has decided to create features exclusively for its own devices, which has even got the entire smartphone market surprised. As the standard Android 7.1 features necessarily require certain specific hardware that existing Nexus phones might not have. The same problem might come up with the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X models.

Night Light:

Although studies show that it can negatively affect sleeping pattern, the Night light feature tones the screen red so as to reduce the blue light intensity. Cutting down the amount of blue light on the screen's display makes it easier on users' eyes especially during night time. In Android 7.1 Nougat, night light feature requires a new hardware composer interface in place of the earlier GL Shader. That clearly means that these features require driver support, but unfortunately, the Nexus devices don't have that yet.

Android 7.1 developer preview is now available for the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and Pixel C https://t.co/U3M5E4PaQ7 pic.twitter.com/2U07i6Yqq7 — Android Police (@AndroidPolice) October 19, 2016

Fingerprint Reader Swipe Gestures:

Regarding the fingerprint reader gestures, this feature won't work on the Nexus 6P or Nexus 5X as the hardware that's being used in these devices won't support it. On the Pixel and Pixel XL, swiping down on the fingerprint sensor will also pull down the notification shade. This feature works best for big screen devices like Google's Pixel XL.

According to AndroidAuthority, while the Android 7.1 Nougat brings a new gestures section to the latest Nexus devices' settings, the fingerprint swipe still requires a specific hardware, which the 6P and 5X certainly do not have. Of course, the Nexus devices are out of luck again, as they don't currently have the required driver support.

Although it's not that surprising that Google's older Nexus phones won't support all the features included in the Android 7.1, it still is a bit disappointing for all those who believed that Nexus 6P and 5X would not have the same problem. If you're really interested in giving these new features a try it'd definitely be better to spend on Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, which are now available on both Google's online store as well as at the Verizon Wireless in the US.