Turn thumb recognition on/off quickly

[mark7914]

I don't think this is possible, but maybe there's a creative option for this..

I don't use the facial recognition option partly because it doesn't work very well indoors or where the light is less than perfect but mostly because it is not secure: if your phone is snatched from you in the street the thing need only be pointed at you and the thief has access.

I do use the thumb sensor however here in the UK our Police have begun to prosecute what Orwell called "Newspeak" and that involves seizing your phone from you and trawling through the stuff on it.

What I'd ideally like is a way to toggle the thumb sensor on/off in one hit without having to navigate through various menus.

Thus, only the PIN will work. I don't doubt that these devices can still be hacked with relative ease and the Police or anyone else could gain access, it just means it takes more time and effort.

Is there any way to do that?

 

[SpookDroid]

Unfortunately, you are correct: there's no easy way to do this because of security reasons. Just like you said, if someone has brief access to your phone and wants to change the security, a toggle would be a very bad idea.

If you root the device and hack your way through the security policies or find a custom ROM that features this, then that would be feasible.

 

[kikbxr1969]

If you can hold out long enough, they have you covered on this in PIE. I have the s9+ that just got PIE. One of the new security settings is "Show Lockdown Option" (It will be in settings>Lock Screen>Secure Lock - Just toggle on/off the option)With that setting on, holding the power button gives you the option to lock out biometrics the next time your phone needs to be unlocked. I do not recall ever seeing this on OREO. Hoping it is soon that the 8's get this as I kept mine as a backup phone and to use for bike rides and other things where my 9 might get damaged.

 

[kikbxr1969]

FYI - Just saw that you can download an app from the play store to get the same functionality
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.radefffactory.lockdown

 

[mark7914]

Thanks, that looks great. I shall give that a try.