Fingerprint Scanner Not Working Well

[Christopher Lucernoni]

This is me thinking "out loud" about this whole fps scenario so far....

I get that this is new tech. What I keep reading, in it's defense, is that it's new tech and works differently than many would expect. Requires more accuracy/patience.

Do you believe Samsung set an appropriate level of expectation?

Is this what was expected based on the marketing?

Would Apple (Samsung's largest competitor?) have released this ultrasonic fps in its current state?

Was Face ID so hit or miss in it's first incarnation for most users? Not a fair comparison, I know. Face ID WAS distinctly different new tech.

How many customers believe(d) the new fingerprint sensor should work just as easily as ones they've used before? Though it works on both my 10+es now, if I'm patient...and careful, it doesn't work as quickly as it did on my Note 9.

TBH, I'm still not sure what we really gained here besides tech for the sake of tech.

Now if the ultrasonic reader worked wherever you placed a finger on the screen that would be a tangible advantage. If it was faster or more accurate than the capacitive readers it wants to replace...that would be an advantage.

Now we have something that in some cases works almost as well as what we had before...but it's new tech so all is forgiven? I like my new phones but if they had a flaw this is what I think most people would say the flaw was.

I know, it was the 10th anniversary and Samsung felt they had to do something different and we got something different but I'm not willing to makes excuses for it.

These are my thoughts exactly. The reader on my S9+ was accurate, fast, and easy. So while the ultrasonic is cool and saves space on the back of the phone...it doesn't really serve any purpose other than slowing me down in getting into my phone. I'm sure in 2 years/generations, it's going to be just as fast as the s9+, but I would have liked to have the option to use the old one. That really is the only negative i've found to this phone.

Obviously it's gotten better as i get more practice, but the bottom line is that it is slow and inaccurate when compared to last gen's tech.

 

[tadpoles]

This is 100% my problem. My hands are dry as a bone from washing them several times a day.

I never before even heard of considering how dry ones fingers were in regards to fps functionality. They pretty much, as far as I knew, just worked. These ultrasonic fps' will get there too as long as Sammy sees it through and doesn't give up on it like their iris scanning.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in their tech requirements meetings. I envision a comic:

Jermaine: "Hey Joe, how's that tongue-print tech coming along? Is it almost ready?"

Joe: "Well, I think it's gett'n there but we should refine it a little more."

Jermaine:. "Almost ready you say? Any chance of electrocution? No? Good enough! Let's go with it!"

Samantha: "The brainwave reader is moving along too..."

Jermaine: "You don't say?! How close...? Heck, I want them both in the S11!"

Joe: "Uh, I think..."

Jermaine: "Nonsense!! It's ready, they're both ready. We'll work out the bugs later. Come on, release is next month!"

 

[Mike Dee]

I never before even heard of considering how dry ones fingers were in regards to fps functionality. They pretty much, as far as I knew, just worked. These ultrasonic fps' will get there too as long as Sammy sees it through and doesn't give up on it like their iris scanning.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in their tech requirements meetings. I envision a comic:

Jermaine: "Hey Joe, how's that tongue-print tech coming along? Is it almost ready?"

Joe: "Well, I think it's gett'n there but we should refine it a little more."

Jermaine:. "Almost ready you say? Any chance of electrocution? No? Good enough! Let's go with it!"

Samantha: "The brainwave reader is moving along too..."

Jermaine: "You don't say?! How close...? Heck, I want them both in the S11!"

Joe: "Uh, I think..."

Jermaine: "Nonsense!! It's ready, they're both ready. We'll work out the bugs later. Come on, release is next month!"

Conventional FPS rarely have that issue except in extreme conditions. Happened to me once on the V20 but I was working outside in extreme cold. My prints wouldn't read at all until my finger tips returned to normal

 

[Sapient]

I had posted elsewhere that for people like you, you should try registering same finger but different conditions... when normal haven't washed for hours with skins natural oil, register when bone dry after so many washes and maybe once after using moisturizer. In that way you cover as many skin conditions as you can.....

I've played with that concept, and it doesn't help. My experimentation suggests that the FPS simply doesn't get a good read when skin is dry, so comparing a bad read to a bad registration doesn't produce much success. It may be that removing the screen protector would be enough to overcome this issue for me, but I'm not ready to do it (especially because it is mostly working fine for me right now).

 

[Mike Dee]

I've played with that concept, and it doesn't help. My experimentation suggests that the FPS simply doesn't get a good read when skin is dry, so comparing a bad read to a bad registration doesn't produce much success. It may be that removing the screen protector would be enough to overcome this issue for me, but I'm not ready to do it (especially because it is mostly working fine for me right now).

You are correct....dry skin doesn't register well at all.

 

[donm527]

A little reading just to get a little idea on the challenge of reading wet and dry prints. And I believe this is using an optical sensor. Imagine the challenges of same in 3d.

https://www.researchgate.net/public...rint_recognition_Challenges_and_opportunities

I never before even heard of considering how dry ones fingers were in regards to fps functionality. They pretty much, as far as I knew, just worked. These ultrasonic fps' will get there too as long as Sammy sees it through and doesn't give up on it like their iris scanning.

 

[tadpoles]

Conventional FPS rarely have that issue except in extreme conditions. Happened to me once on the V20 but I was working outside in extreme cold. My prints wouldn't read at all until my finger tips returned to normal

I've had experience with an fps taking a try or two to read but the situation I had with my prism black S10+ was bad. Really bad. ...someone said, somewhere, to lick your fingers and I tried that...it helped but...really? This replacement ceramic white received the update right out the box and is much much much better. Completely usable, as is my other ceramic black. ...and I don't have to lick my fingers to get them to unlock. I wonder about all the folks that aren't reading these forums and their experiences. I do appreciate that Samsung quickly released an update that most, but not all, received.

 

[tadpoles]

A little reading just to get a little idea on the challenge of reading wet and dry prints. And I believe this is using an optical sensor. Imagine the challenges of same in 3d.

https://www.researchgate.net/public...rint_recognition_Challenges_and_opportunities

Thanks!

 

[Dee74]

I already posted on here that my FPS was working great but yesterday after doing yard work all day I had dry hands and it took multiple attempts to unlock my phone with any of my saved fingerprints. After some hand lotion and a couple hours it was back to normal. I guess the sensor is still somewhat sensitive to skin condition, even after the update.

 

[Mike Dee]

I already posted on here that my FPS was working great but yesterday after doing yard work all day I had dry hands and it took multiple attempts to unlock my phone with any of my saved fingerprints. After some hand lotion and a couple hours it was back to normal. I guess the sensor is still somewhat sensitive to skin condition, even after the update.

Dry hands can be a problem with any FPS, however this one is more sensitive to changes in skin condition.

 

[Scutley]

I have read where Samsung will give out updates in the future to make it work better. What can they do though to make it better if it's dry hands or something with the skin of your body?

I do notice that it works a lot better when you don't have a screen protector on your phone, but most people want screen protectors on their phones.

 

[Mike Dee]

I have read where Samsung will give out updates in the future to make it work better. What can they do though to make it better if it's dry hands or something with the skin of your body?

I do notice that it works a lot better when you don't have a screen protector on your phone, but most people want screen protectors on their phones.

Did you change the touch sensitivity with the screen protector?

 

[Scutley]

Did you change the touch sensitivity with the screen protector?

Change the pointer speed? I just did that maybe it's working better. Just tried it a few times and it worked flawlessly on 3 out of the 4 fingers that I used. Before I changed it was awful. We will see how it does as the day goes by. Thank you.

It is a new screen protector (Whitestone Tempered Glass) my old one chipped and had to replace it with a new one. I remember it took a while for it to work pretty well with the FPS. Had to use it quite a bit then it worked pretty well afterwards. I had the protector on for a week or two. Maybe it was because the protector was still new and the glue or whatever they use was still drying or something.

 

[Mike Dee]

Change the pointer speed? I just did that maybe it's working better. Just tried it a few times and it worked flawlessly on 3 out of the 4 fingers that I used. We will see how it does as the day goes by. Thank you.

Pointer speed? I mean Display Touch Sensitivity.

 

[Scutley]

Pointer speed? I mean Display Touch Sensitivity.

Yeah I did that as ssoon a s I got the phone.

I also just did this:

https://www.inclusiveandroid.com/content/how-control-sensitivity-your-screen

and it seems to be working better. I put pointer speed all the way to fast.

How to control the sensitivity of your screen
tap settings.
"Tap Language and Input" under "General management"
Scroll to the very bottom of these settings and where it says "pointer speed"
"I have seen several default speeds, none over %50. Increase the slider to make the touch screen more sensitive and easier to tab. ...
Tap OK and then experiment with the results."

 

[draculito]

The FPS is an effin joke, works roughly 50% of the time. Registered and re-registered same finger twice, removed screen protector and what not. Samsung support gave me their "update coming/dry skin/learning curve" spiel. Where's the learning curve on Note 9, S9? What a sham. Just kills me when I need to access phone fast and have to keep pressing this BS thing. Returning tomorrow.

 

[Ninjarette]

I wash my hands a lot in a day. My job involves touching people. A FPS can't only work well when skin is oily.

 

[Scutley]

Yeah I did that as ssoon a s I got the phone.

I also just did this:

https://www.inclusiveandroid.com/content/how-control-sensitivity-your-screen

and it seems to be working better. I put pointer speed all the way to fast.

How to control the sensitivity of your screen
tap settings.
"Tap Language and Input" under "General management"
Scroll to the very bottom of these settings and where it says "pointer speed"
"I have seen several default speeds, none over %50. Increase the slider to make the touch screen more sensitive and easier to tab. ...
Tap OK and then experiment with the results."

Okay so I did this. Been using it for almost a day with these settings above and it works really good. I used it right after I washed my hands and when my hands were dry and oily. So, I recommend doing what I quoted above.

 

[Scutley]

The FPS is an effin joke, works roughly 50% of the time. Registered and re-registered same finger twice, removed screen protector and what not. Samsung support gave me their "update coming/dry skin/learning curve" spiel. Where's the learning curve on Note 9, S9? What a sham. Just kills me when I need to access phone fast and have to keep pressing this BS thing. Returning tomorrow.

Did you do the settings and read the other posts of what other have said to do? Or did you just post to complain?

 

[Ninjarette]

The FPS is an effin joke, works roughly 50% of the time. Registered and re-registered same finger twice, removed screen protector and what not. Samsung support gave me their "update coming/dry skin/learning curve" spiel. Where's the learning curve on Note 9, S9? What a sham. Just kills me when I need to access phone fast and have to keep pressing this BS thing. Returning tomorrow.

Are you within your buyer's remorse return window? If so, exchange it. Yes the tech is new, but it most definitely should not be that frustrating...which is exactly why I got a new one. Having to register and re-register your fingerprint a gazillion times isn't acceptable, along with trying to make sure your fingers are not too dry...too wet. Nope.

My replacement works great. Is it perfect? Nope, but almost. Do I wish I had the FPS on the S9? Yep. BUT the ultrasonic FPS wasn't a factor in my purchase decision.