The FP sensor is active *all* the time, even when screen is locked.
Yes, I discovered that when I found it would sometimes unlock while I was still centring my finger
before actually pressing the button…
In fact, it seems that the screen is just about the
only device which gets turned off: the fingerprint sensor is always active, as are the other buttons, Bluetooth and wifi
* connections, the processor, etc. — though at least some of those go into some sort of low-power state while not in active use.
Fitting in with your experience, best practice seems to be:
- Disable ‘wake on lift’.
- Register all the relevant fingerprints.
- Keep the sensor clean.
- To wake, simply rest one of those fingers on the sensor (and hold for a couple of seconds if needed) without pressing the button.
- Try to avoid touching the sensor with fingertips, fingers, palms, clothing, or anything else at all other times!
- If you see ‘Too many attempts, try later’, unlock by using your password/pattern/PIN to reset the counter and avoid the sensor being disabled completely.
- If you see ‘Too many attempts, fingerprint sensor disabled’, the only way to re-enable it is to reboot. (By holding down the power button or Fn+Esc, and selecting ‘Restart’ — luckily that's fairly quick and won't lose any saved data/settings.)
It's clear that the sensor registers almost
any touch as a fingerprint attempt, so it's a shame that the sensor isn't indented further to reduce accidental touches, and/or allows more failures before locking up…
I have a few related questions, though:
Does anyone know the best orientation for fingerprints? I started by holding my finger perpendicular to the screen (as that'd be the most obvious position when the Astro is open and on the desk — the position I'm use to from the Gemini), but I've also registered some fingerprints in the other orientation, with the finger resting along the edge of the screen. It's hard to tell, but I suspect the latter may be recognised more consistently, maybe because that gives a slightly more consistent finger position (less scope for lateral movement, and you can feel the end of the sensor) and/or because it gives a slightly greater area to recognise — but I'm not really sure. Any thoughts?
(I'm assuming that if you want a finger to be recognised in both orientations, it's not smart enough to realise it's the same finger, and so you need to register it twice, once each way.)
Also, when I wake up in the morning and remove the charging cable, my Astro
never responds to a fingerprint (not even with a ‘not recognised’ message), and I always need to open it and enter my password. Am I doing something wrong, or
is ignoring the sensor expected after disconnecting power and/or after many hours of being locked?I also note that you can set Android not to lock when in a certain location or connected to a certain Bluetooth device. However, I don't usually enable location sensing (for privacy and battery reasons), and the only Bluetooth device I use it with is a pair of earphones that I take with me and so aren't suitable for indicating location!
Is it possible to prevent locking when connected to a certain wifi access point/network? Or is there a type of Bluetooth device I could get purely to prevent locking, that wouldn't have any other functionality or battery impact, and wouldn't prevent also using Bluetooth earphones?
(* I run an SSH daemon so I can connect to my phone from my desktop. The Gemini was connected to wifi only when the screen was on, so I'd always have to unlock it first and wait for it to connect — but the Astro always responds, even when it looks completely asleep.)
