In-display fingerprint sensors have become commonplace in virtually all Android smartphones, for better or for worse, and five years later…
Put em on the baaaaaaaack!!
The under screen ones suck in comparison so much ugh
Seriously. I’m tired of blinding myself at night when trying to sleepily check my phone. The sensor on the back of my old pixel could also be used to pull down the notification shade which I can’t easily reach with one hand, now, since the screen is so large.
Ultrasonic under screen readers dont need to light up that spot to work
Ohhh I just assumed it was what my pixel 8 was using.
Nope! The 9 is the first pixel that uses Ultrasonic. Its a massive upgrade from the optical scanner in the 7. Legitimately never misses
fwiw the optical one in the Pixel 8 I use is pretty good and works better than the ultrasonic of my old Samsung, which was a disaster.
I forgot about the gesture to pull down the notification bar. The was far superior. I could reach in to my pocket and have the phone unlocked before I even see the screen
There is a one-handed mode gesture that you can enable. It allows you to swipe straight down on the gesture bar to pull the entire top of the screen down.
I use that but it only works from the home screen. If I use the gesture from an app it just interact with the app.
That’s odd, I can use that gesture from any app. Wonder if it’s phone-specific.
I’m using a pixel 8 with graphene. If I try to use that gesture while browsing lemmy with the Sync app, for example, it just scrolls the feed back towards the top.
I only explain bc I’m hoping I’m using it incorrectly.
I am using a stock Pixel 6a. From the home screen, I can swipe down anywhere to pull down the notification shade.
The one-handed mode gesture (and function) is different though. Settings → System → Gestures → One-handed mode:
Usage:
On the back sucks, with your phone laying on a surface you can’t access the reader… Sony had it right, put it on the side, on the power button
That’s the placement of the sensor on Samsung’s Folds and it’s great.
Motorola had it right, the sensor was right where my index fingers rested on the back. Unfortunately this isn’t “premium” nor “hi-tech” enough to sell phones.
I had a phone with one on the back and currently have one with it on the screen. Personally I had absolutely no issues with its functionality in the screen and do prefer it over the back. I like that I can unlock my phone without having to pick it up off the desk or while its still in the mount on my vehicle dash.
Seems to work perfectly fine to me but maybe it’s a quality issues with the brand of phones. Mine is a OnePlus and it’s almost 4 years old now, still works fine and never had any issues.
Rear scanners had no reason to go away. Imagine a phone with one giant fingerprint sensor/touchpad on the back(like the PS Vita).
I miss the back fingerprint scanner. I could unlock my phone as I’m taking it out of my pocket . The in screen one on Samsung phones is really unreliable.
Being able to swipe down the notifications from that button was a great feature
If it’s any consolation, “one handed mode” (at least on pixels) has an option to let you bring the shade down by swiping down on the gesture bar
Swiping down on the fingerprint scanner was my favorite thing on my pixel 5, for checking notifications or fidgeting with it! I was a little bummed when I eventually upgraded, but found that and it works relatively well
I use this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsung.android.sidegesturepad
It can also pull the screen down with a different gesture
On my pixel 6A you can bring down the notifications but double tapping the back of the phone, which is pretty neat.
Back tap is pretty sick, I have it set up to trigger my flashlight
How are the false positives when using your phone and the notification shade? Sometimes I’ll get false positives holding my phone resting against a hard surface and blast whatever’s behind it
I can’t recall false positives being a huge issue for me, but it’s very late at night so my memory might be foggy.
I honestly don’t use it a lot because I have a gesture which enables me to swipe down on the home screen to bring down the notifications and I’m just so used to doing that. Personally I have to adjust my grip to use the back tap feature, so it’s slightly inconvenient.
Having the flashlight on the feature is something that I would like but unfortunately it’s just somewhat embarrassing to walk around with the flashlight turned on and false positives are a problem here.
With the notification shade false positives don’t really matter.
My sensor is on the button that turns on the phone, and it’s on the right side where the thumb is placed anyway. You press it, phone turns on and you can enter the passkey, you slide your thumb over it, you unlock the phone directly.
I have it deactivated though. There’s no need to store my fingerprint anywhere to save 1.5 seconds.
And on top of that, tempered glass screen protectors were great.
I miss my pixel 5. The sensor was so reliable
It’s annoying when phone is flat on the table. Otherwise, yes, they’re much better.
All of the phones I have had have had practically flat fingerprint sensors, For example, the Pixel 3a XL which is closest to me right now has an inwards facing sensor.
I believe OP was referring to the fact you’d need to pick up the phone to access the rear sensor, not about if the phone sits flat.
Oh, I guess so. I get that, but facial recognition does exist, and that’s what I use mainly, even if my phone’s fingerprint sensor is accessible.
Ew, biometrics.
If someone can unlock your phone when you are unconscious or dead, it’s only identification. Not authentication
That’s what authentication is. You’re thinking authorization.
