Locked out of phone by fingerprint fail

[Rarry]

I thought I'd try out the newly available Android Pay so I first set a pin to lock the phone and then set the fingerprint lock (after deleting one of the 3 slots and entering a new print just to be safe.) I thought I'd done enough to be safe but after a couple of times of getting in and out using the fingerprint it just started refusing to recognize it, and just stuck on wanting the backup password with no more chances to try the fingerprint. The new PIN I'd set up wouldn't let me in either.

Eventually I remembered the password and got back in, but the Device Manager didn't help and once the fingerprint entry disappeared I'd have been screwed without the password. The lesson is I suppose, to keep better track of old backup passwords, to know that the fingerprint backup password isn't the same as the phone PIN, and to know that the fingerprint sensor on the Note 4 is well flakey!

 

[B. Diddy]

That backup password is very important--many people just kind of blow it off. But it's there in case the fingerprint sensor has a problem. My Nexus 6P will sometimes ask my to enter my pattern unlock after I tap the fingerprint sensor "for added security," so I wonder if Samsung devices ever ask for the backup password in addition to the fingerprint, even if it recognizes your fingerprint.