Database Users

Possible solution to ineffective fingerprint scanner

After a month of using my Atrix 4G, a friend of my brother bought one for himself... only to realize his fingerprint scanner's faulty. After close inspection, I see that it's not a hardware problem, but just a cosmetic problem. At the power button, the hinge is uneven due to the tape (yes, the TAPE) that covers the sensor. And so I thought, 'could it be replaced instead of the whole panel' because if I rub on the sensor hard enough, it would actually register the print.
This is something I've found out; try it at your own risk - or enjoyment - as of now I can't find the right type of tape to replace the sensor's... so it wouldn't block the scanner or not registering the heat.

Whoa!!! Hold on there.
Unless someone has actually applied a layer of tape to your Atrix, there is no "Tape" on the fingerprint sensor that can be replaced.
Please do not even think about trying to dissassemble the fingerprint sensor. The black surface is not "Tape" in the sense that you are imaging. It absolutely cannot be peeled away and replaced.

Dave__C said:
Whoa!!! Hold on there.
Unless someone has actually applied a layer of tape to your Atrix, there is no "Tape" on the fingerprint sensor that can be replaced.
Please do not even think about trying to dissassemble the fingerprint sensor. The black surface is not "Tape" in the sense that you are imaging. It absolutely cannot be peeled away and replaced.
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werd
10char

Using Rain-X to prevent fingerprints.

Has anyone tried using Rain-X? I'm probably going to give it a shot by cleaning the entire screen, and then applying it to a rag, and then onto the screen itself. From what I've heard, it will last for about a week, but it's supposed to be pretty effective.
I'm not a clean freak or anything, but they're very visible unless it's in a dark room or some place without much ambient lighting. If anything, it's helped with how frequently I wash my hands.
I'll be reporting back if I put a coat on!

not sure why this would work. rainx is like an oil. oil doesnt mix with water, thats why it just flies right off your windshield when your driving. your fingers produces oil, not water. like dissolves like. i doubt this will work. please update us on this though.

I didn't have any Rain-X on hand when I first heard about this, so I used carnauba wax instead. It still gets fingerprints, but they're not as noticeable and they wipe away easier.
Rain-X doesn't necessarily repel oils, but it does fill in the microscopic pores in the glass, making for a smoother surface that makes it harder for things to stick to it.

Search the forum for about 10 diff threads regarding this subject for more detailed info if your worried about chemicals in rainx etc.
I have been using it for about 5 months on various devices. usually 3 coats at one time will last me about 1 month or so with very little fingerprints and the ones i do get wipe off very easy.
It works great.

Hate Fingerprints on your Tablet? Try this...

So okay, these are Touchscreen devices. Does that mean we have to just live with it, having the hi-res, beautiful display hampered by grungy fingerprints, and swipe marks? Not if I can help it (and I can!)
People who own these devices fall into two camps:
1) The ones that detest the fingerprints, and are super annoyed at how quickly the display gets marked up. Constantly wiping screen with a cloth, cleaning pad, wipes etc.?
2) The ones who don't give a crap.
For the former, of which I am a member, I have two really good ways of almost eliminating the print problem. It's not 100% but it goes a long way to do to resolving the issue. This is a 2 step process:
First, get some Rain-x or another brand of that type of glass treatment. It's designed for car, to make rainwater run off, and keep bug and crap from sticking to the glass. Pretty amazing stuff actually. Personally I don't think other brands are as good. Treat the screen with it 2x to start, then once a week or a bit more often (I do this about every 4-5 days) Leaves the glass feeling super smooth and slippery. It's an amazing feel, but really doesn't last that long. Also note I have no idea if there are long term effects that would have any effect on the durability of the screen, but is IS glass, hardened or not. I did this to my HTC Phone for years with no negligible effect that I could ever tell.
Second: Wash your hands! They now have signs in all the bathrooms with instructions for morons who have trouble with this complex procedure.
Seriously though... I am not done. Like me, you may have noticed that after washing your hands thoroughly (did you remember to make a good lather?) your fingers end up clean. Too clean! As in "Squeaky Clean" and as you may also have noticed, this does not lend well to swiping on glass (even glass that is super slick with Rain-x) Here is the solution. Powder. Talcum Powder or Baby Powder. Sprinkle a tiny bit on your palms, & finger tips, wipe it in well.
This works AMAZINGLY well. Sounds like a big pain, but its really not, and after both Rain-x and a little talc, let's say 4-5 minutes to take care of, you can sit and use your tablet four HOURS and barely see a trace of any prints.
Of course it all goes to **** when you star eating fried chicken while web browsing, but I can't resolve EVERY problem now, can I? (Hmm, I wonder if those nitrile gloves would work on a capacitive touchscreen...)

Uh what exactly is in rain-x? Whatever it is, I doubt the company envisioned people coming into daily contact with. Similarly, talc is a product that can be carcinogenic when used daily. However it would likely take many years.
Here's a safety sheet on rainx.
www.emedco.info/rtk/common/wcd00008/wcd00802.htm
While it doesn't seem awful as it's mostly water and alcohol (I don't know what some of the other chemicals are) it is only approve for occasional contact and it does warn the the product cancause drying and make one more susceptible to skin issues.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using xda premium

I just my jacket sleeve to wipe
I've noticed that if it's squeaky clean it becomes harder to scroll and swipe so I leave it a little dirty/oily. The only thing I can't stand is dust.

I'm definitely a number 2. I can't remember the last time I wiped the screen. I wonder what the white stains are...

Screen protectors.
While I'm not particularly a fan of screen protectors, I was testing one recently for my Transformer and it fits perfect and you can't notice it... and one of the bonuses is that it doesn't show finger prints.
The Transformer is REALLY bad for finger prints. I've even had other people point it out. While I'm typically anal about finger prints, I use my TF too much to sit there and wipe it down every 5 minutes... and its summer so I'm not wearing sleeves.
I plan on writing a review for the screen protector after a few more days of using it. I haven't wiped it off yet since I cleaned the screen to apply the protector and it looks clean still.

Screen Protectors could help
player911 said:
Screen protectors.
While I'm not particularly a fan of screen protectors, I was testing one recently for my Transformer and it fits perfect and you can't notice it... and one of the bonuses is that it doesn't show finger prints.
The Transformer is REALLY bad for finger prints. I've even had other people point it out. While I'm typically anal about finger prints, I use my TF too much to sit there and wipe it down every 5 minutes... and its summer so I'm not wearing sleeves.
I plan on writing a review for the screen protector after a few more days of using it. I haven't wiped it off yet since I cleaned the screen to apply the protector and it looks clean still.
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I guess if it's a satin or similar, non-gloss it would be a big improvement over the stock glass... What brand did you get? I have gotten pretty good about laying them on a phone display, might be another story getting a perfect placement on a 10 inch screen!
bobloblaw1: Talc is dangerous? Kill me now! I would stay away from electronics entirely; according to Greenpeace: "Electronic devices are a complex mixture of several hundred materials. A mobile phone, for example, contains 500 to 1000 components. Many of these contain toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and beryllium and hazardous chemicals, such as brominated flame retardants." Better sell the Transformer and switch back to smoke signals... oh ****, that smoke is just FULL of carcinogens... Want to sell that SCH-I500 cheap?

I don't think I would recommend this. Rain-X is for use on the external surface of a windshield. It has some staying power. Lord knows what extended contact can do to your skin or if there are other more subtle things that can occur to the sensitive lining of the nostrils or eyes.

I just have a suede cloth i use when I notice prints

Hmm, an anti-glare screen protector is ALOT easier! Plus, it also reduces the glare and you won't have to lug around rain-x and talcum powder with you....
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

goodintentions said:
I'm definitely a number 2. I can't remember the last time I wiped the screen. I wonder what the white stains are...
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lol...and i mean i actually loled. TMI though
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

SmartAs$Phone said:
Too clean! As in "Squeaky Clean" and as you may also have noticed, this does not lend well to swiping on glass (even glass that is super slick with Rain-x) Here is the solution. Powder. Talcum Powder or Baby Powder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another cool trick is to actually dry your hands after washing. It works equally well...
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk

Dried Rain-x wont hurt you. Just use latex gloves when applying if you're paranoid about skin contact.

S8+ Fingerprint sensor scratches!!

So upon inspecting my phone this morning under direct bright lighting I noticed very light scratches going across my fingerprint sensor. I always kept my phone in a case since day one. I realized it's not made of glass and will scratch overtime but why didn't sammy just realize this could be a problem overtime. Even placing your finger on it with the slightest dirt can make fine abrasions but it's not noticeable under normal lighting conditions.
So to solve this problem I placed a small piece of clear tape over it that i cut myself and It works like a charm!! Looks good too! Works 100% of the time. Let me know guys if you had this problem.

perez6481 said:
So upon inspecting my phone this morning under direct bright lighting I noticed very light scratches going across my fingerprint sensor. I always kept my phone in a case since day one. I realized it's not made of glass and will scratch overtime but why didn't sammy just realize this could be a problem overtime. Even placing your finger on it with the slightest dirt can make fine abrasions but it's not noticeable under normal lighting conditions.
So to solve this problem I placed a small piece of clear tape over it that i cut myself and It works like a charm!! Looks good too! Works 100% of the time. Let me know guys if you had this problem.
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Every single Samsung that has fingerprint sensor is prone to scratches since it is plastic.

So far I don't have any scratches on the sensor, but to make sure it stays that way I might just do what you did, OP. Is it still as reliable in terms of scanning with the tape on?

Same here.

MindlessNevada said:
So far I don't have any scratches on the sensor, but to make sure it stays that way I might just do what you did, OP. Is it still as reliable in terms of scanning with the tape on?
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It works just as perfect, I made sure it's the thin clear tape that's used to wrap gifts and it's been a huge peace of mind since I know it won't get any worse.

Very small scratches on mine. Slightly disappointing but most Samsung's buttons/fingerprint scratch pretty easy I just expected this not to be as bad with it being at the rear and not used as a home button like previous models.

Just posting this here in case it helps anyone since it helped me. I didn't have any scratches on my Maple Gold S8+ in the 3 months I had it before I passed it on to my wife -- but when I got by Midnight Black one, I got scratches on it within a week even after being very careful with it. Very bad quality for a device that costs a good sum of money. Samsung has the money and should do what Apple does and protect its sensor with a Sapphire-coated cover. I've never had scratch issues on my any of my iPhones with TouchID (5S to 7 Plus).
Anyway, I was able to get rid of the scratches on mine using Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0 (costs 10 bucks or less)
1. Just put a small amount of Scratch X 2.0 on a Q-Tip;
2. Apply it to the fingerprint sensor; try to spread it evenly;
3. Let the Scratch X dry;
4. Once it's dry/caked-up, use a micro-fiber cloth (not the 3M variety for cars or 'gadget cleaning' because those can be abrasive too --
but the ones that come with prescription glasses). Here's a good example.
5. Gently rub-off the caked-up cleaner using light steady strokes.
As a precaution, you may want to cover the surrounding Gorilla Glass area (and lens) with 3M Magic tape so you can avoid getting the Scratch X solution on these areas. It says not to put on glass surfaces on the bottle but I've not encountered any issues.
Your home button should look pretty good/scratch-less afterwards. I know it certainly helped with mine. There's some very slight loss in shine initially but after a while, the button goes back very nearly to what it used to look like. It doesn't affect the sensor and the appearance holds up on inspection even under direct lighting. I don't have a handheld buffing tool with a soft tip just yet but I think I could get better results with that.
Anyway, I hope this helps you guys like it helped me.

Nothing new. Same stories with other Sam phones before esp S7/S7 Edge. Sam simply don't want you use your phone for too long time, just upgrade every year or shorter. Anothet idea: Sam want to lower cost to make phones or have lower part/build quality than some others

I am using an s9 plus and I'm worried it might get scratched as well so I put tape on it but it doesnt read

Question about the fingerprint scanner

So I been wondering, since I use the scanner exclusively to navigate, is the scanner actually intended for such constant use, or is this some kind of hack by the manufacturers? And what kind of lifetime does the scanner have under constant use?

Capacitive fingerprint readers are small arrays of capacitors, much like a very densely packed touchscreen. There isn't much to break there, but they do lose accuracy if scratched (though not as much as you might think). The capacitors aren't actually directly on the sensor, they are a bit underneath the glassy surface, so it would probably take decades for it to wear out and stop working. Even with everyday use, they will definitely outlast some other components.