Fingerprint unlock

DustWolfy

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Hello,

As of a few days ago my Moto G30 phone will no longer react to a fingerprint scan to wake / unlock it, if I wait something like 15 minutes.

The fingerprint scan works perfectly if used in apps or to unlock the screen immediately or soon after locking it. It is only if I wait a bit longer that it no longer responds (and I have to go the button + passcode route). All the settings appear to be correct.

I've reviewed the other threads on this topic and this seems to be a different kind of issue (e.g. I understand that there's a security feature that requires me to use the passcode on occasion, the pattern isn't random, etc). It seems to be some kind of power management issue where perhaps the fingerprint reader is turned off after the phone is locked for a while and therefore cannot be used.

Also, like I said I've used this functionality for years and it's always worked the way I expected it to, until a few days ago. I also have a Moto G60 (work) phone which doesn't have this issue, even though I use it in the same way.

The phone is fully up to date and a reboot doesn't help.

I'll be happy if you have any ideas on what else to try...

LP,
Dusty
 

DustWolfy

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The instructions on the page you linked are wrong. There is a missing step: When you press and hold the power button you also have to tap and hold the Power Off icon for the safe mode reboot option to pop up.

Anyways, once I got into safe mode I tried it and it does happen in safe mode as well. It behaves the exact same way as outside of safe mode: It works if unlocked immediately, but does not work if you try to unlock it a few minutes later.
 
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B. Diddy

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Hmph, you'd think Lenovo/Motorola would get their own information right! :confused: Thanks for the correction.

I should've asked this before -- what's the "Automatically Lock" timeout set to? Where it is in your system settings can vary depending on the phone, so just search for "automatically lock" in the system settings and see if adjusting that makes any difference.

Also, could it be that you're accidentally tapping the Lockdown option? https://en-emea.support.motorola.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/158048/~/lockscreen-security---moto-g30 It seems unlikely, since it sounds like this is happening regularly to you, but just thought I'd check.
 

DustWolfy

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Hmph, you'd think Lenovo/Motorola would get their own information right! :confused: Thanks for the correction.

I should've asked this before -- what's the "Automatically Lock" timeout set to? Where it is in your system settings can vary depending on the phone, so just search for "automatically lock" in the system settings and see if adjusting that makes any difference.

I think this is correct. I've set it to 60 minutes from 5 seconds and now I can unlock my phone with my fingerprint even after several minutes. It's strange though? This used to not function in this manner? I have not changed this setting when this issue started on my phone.

Also the "lockdown" function you've mentioned further in your instructions doesn't seem to exist on my phone.

I kinda suspect someone at Google made a typo when programming this function and implemented the incorrect lock mode for it. For example the same screen features the "lock by pressing the power button" option, which is spelled the same way, but it can be unlocked with the fingerprint no problem.
 
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B. Diddy

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Yeah, it's odd -- the Automatically Lock timeout should still allow you to unlock the phone with your fingerprint. It might be worth doing a factory reset, and not automatically reinstalling any of your apps at first, and seeing if the issue persists.

FYI, it would be Motorola/Lenovo that's responsible for this issue, not Google, as the manufacturer would be the one that tweaks this setting. So the feedback about this should go to Moto.
 

DustWolfy

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Yeah, I can't really afford to do a reset and all that debugging.

I was mainly relying on the fingerprint unlock, to prevent wear on the power button, since touch interfaces aren't susceptible to it. I guess I'll just have to accept that the industry wants me to eventually destroy my phone so I end up buying a new one.

Thanks for the help anyway.
 
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