Samsung introduced its Ultrasonic fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy S10 series, which promised improved security with faster response time. It was impeccable, until now.
A report states that certain gel-cover style screen protectors can actually “confuse” the sensor, and that when a user registers their fingerprint with the protector on, the phone can then be unlocked by anyone’s fingerprint. Apparently, this issue extends to the Galaxy Note 10/10+ as well, which isn’t a surprise, since these basically use the same sensors.
Now, Samsung has issued an official statement about the issue, and has promised a software patch to address the problem.
Regarding recent reports of a fingerprint recognition issue affecting certain Galaxy devices, we would like to inform our customers of the following information.
This issue involved ultrasonic fingerprint sensors unlocking devices after recognizing 3-dimensional patterns appearing on certain silicone screen protecting cases as users’ fingerprints.
To prevent any further issues, we advise that Galaxy Note10/10+ and S10/S10+/S10 5G users who use such covers to remove the cover, delete all previous fingerprints and newly register their fingerprints.
If you currently use front screen protective covers, to ensure optimum fingerprint scanning, please refrain from using this cover until your device has been updated with a new software patch.
A software update is planned to be released as early as next week, and once updated, please be sure to scan your fingerprint in its entirety, so that the all portions of your fingerprint, including the center and corners have been fully scanned.
Thank you for your patience and we will strive to continuously improve product and service experiences for our users.
In essence, Samsung has advised users to remove these covers, delete their existing fingerprints and re-register them. They’ve also asked that users refrain from using such types of covers until the software patch arrives.
What do you think of this situation? Let us know in the comments section!
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
