Why does my U11 periodically require a password instead of fingerprint?

[WarnerYoung]

Every once in a while, my U11 will ask for a password instead of letting me use my fingerprint. I *think* this happens if I haven't unlocked it in a while, but I don't understand why it's doing that. The phone is in my pocket for the entire time. And is this some kind of option, so I can make it not do that?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Rukbat]

There's screen timeout (how long before the screen goes dark) and lockscreen enable (how long after the screen goes dark before it locks). If it's dark but not locked, your fingerprint will open it. If it's locked it needs the unlock password.

 

[WarnerYoung]

There's screen timeout (how long before the screen goes dark) and lockscreen enable (how long after the screen goes dark before it locks). If it's dark but not locked, your fingerprint will open it. If it's locked it needs the unlock password.

Thanks, Rukbat, but I don't think that's it. On my phone, the security lock is set to 15 minutes, and there are plenty of times when I've left the phone off for longer than that, but it still doesn't ask for my password.

 

[funmonk01]

Every now and then as an added precaution ( like on restart having either restarted the phone or powered off & on) the phone will ask for a password as an extra layer of security. Happens to me about 3times a month on wake up first thing in the morning.

 

[WarnerYoung]

Every now and then as an added precaution ( like on restart having either restarted the phone or powered off & on) the phone will ask for a password as an extra layer of security. Happens to me about 3times a month on wake up first thing in the morning.

funmonk01, yup, I realize that, but as far as I can tell, my phone hasn't restarted in these cases. I've checked the uptime to be sure, and it hasn't reset.

At this point, I'm assuming that somehow, my phone thinks I tried to wake it multiple times while it was in my pocket, but since I didn't supply a fingerprint, it eventually defaults to asking for a password. If it's not that, then I have no idea what could be happening.

 

[James E1]

My U11 has done this since day 1. At the most no more than 3 times a week and on both nougat and Oreo. I personally think it's just an extra security feature that requires the pattern or pin number occasionally.

 

[Indyrobb]

This has occurred on my HTC 10, nexus 6p and pixel xl as well. I want to say it started with marshmallow.

I found this on the Google nexus support page.

Sometimes, use your backup method

For security, you'll unlock with your backup PIN, pattern, or password after:

Your fingerprint isn't recognized after a few tries

You restart (reboot) your phone

You switch to a different user

More than 48 hours have passed since you last unlocked using your backup method

 

[WarnerYoung]

This has occurred on my HTC 10, nexus 6p and pixel xl as well. I want to say it started with marshmallow.

I found this on the Google nexus support page.

Sometimes, use your backup method

For security, you'll unlock with your backup PIN, pattern, or password after:

Your fingerprint isn't recognized after a few tries

You restart (reboot) your phone

You switch to a different user

More than 48 hours have passed since you last unlocked using your backup method

The only possibility is that my fingerprint wasn't recognized after a few tries, but when this has happened, it's always been when my phone was in my pocket. I can only assume something made the phone think I was pressing the fingerprint reader. It's definitely not any of the other possibilities.