Even since I saw one of my friend’s iPhone 5S and its ability of scanning the fingerprint as a means to identify the person and unlock the device, I had been looking forward to have a similar feature in my Android smartphone. Unfortunately, the Google Play Store is full of prank and spoof fingerprint scanner apps. There is only one real fingerprint scanner app called IceUnlock Fingerprint Scanner, that can unlock the Android device based on your fingerprint scans. It uses the back camera to snap your finger’s pictures and use them to find your fingerprints and identify you. After saving your fingerprint scans, it can be used to unlock your device by scanning your finger through the camera.
After you have installed the app, the first thing it will ask you to do is set up a PIN code. This four digit PIN code is used to change the basic settings, remove the fingerprints saved in the app, enable or disable the app itself and more. You should use a secure PIN code without repeating or easy to guess digits.
The next step involves taking four pictures of any one of your fingers. You should use your less frequently used hand for the fingerprints (if you are right-handed, then use the left hand and vice versa). The finger must be kept at about 5-6 inches away from the smartphone camera lens. It is also a good idea to keep a white or light colored background when doing this. The app uses the flash LED if available, but if your phone does not have LED then you should go into a brightly lit room or outside in the sunlight for the fingerprint scans. It automatically detects the fingerprints and takes four pictures one after another – three pictures for record and one final for verification (matching with the record).
After the fingerprint scans have been taken, it tries to match the final scan with the first three and if a match is found, it shows you the the images and asks you whether you want to use the fingerprint. If you are not satisfied with the scans, then you can choose to Reshoot and go over the scanning once more.
Now it will ask you to set ICEUnlock Fingerprint Scanner as your default home-screen launcher app. This will ensure that when you unlock the Android screen by pressing the power button, the fingerprint scanner app is launched to identify the user. The unlocking process again involves taking the picture of your finger using your phone’s back camera and matching it with the record. If a match is found, the phone is locked – otherwise it keeps trying to take pictures of your finger.
In the settings for ICEUnlock Fingerprint Scanner, you can toggle the app (disable or enable the unlocking through fingerprint scanning), delete older fingerprints and enroll with new fingerprints, edit or create PIN codes etc.
Conclusion: You can unlock your Android smartphone using your fingerprint scans, through a third party app called ICEUnlock Fingerprint Scanner. This brings Android devices to the same level as iPhone 5S which has the Touch ID feature that uses fingerprint scans to unlock the phone.
You can install ICEUnlock Fingerprint Scanner from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dft.iceunlock.