The Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have had a few issues since their launch, and one of them has been the fingerprint scanner taking a long time to start up when using it. That could be about to change with a new surprise update.
A new update for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro started rolling out on November 17, but Google hasn't included a changelog of what you can expect it to bring.
However, the same update for Verizon phones comes with a confirmation. The company said it "improves the performance of your device's fingerprint sensor."
This update is believed to be the same for non-Verizon phones, so all Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro owners should soon get the improved fingerprint scanner performance.
If you own one of these phones, you should find the update pushed to your smartphone as soon as it's ready. For example, we haven't received it on our UK phones yet, so we can't say if it's improved the performance of the fingerprint scanner.
The update is titled SD1A.210817.037 (it's SD1A.210817.037.A1 if you're on Verizon).
Google normally pushes updates to its Pixel smartphones at the beginning of each month, so this new update coming in mid-November came as a surprise to some owners.
Analysis: what was the problem here?
The Pixel 6 series is the first time Google has featured an under-display fingerprint scanner, and like many other manufacturers, it struggled when it was first implemented.
In our tests on the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, we saw poor performance for this feature, often requiring multiple attempts to unlock the phone while using the scanner.
Even when it worked the first time, we found it quite slow. Hopefully, these are issues that Google managed to address in this latest update.
The location of the fingerprint reader is easily accessible in the lower third of the phone's screen. Compared to many other phones with built-in scanners, we've found this to be a good position for thumb pressing, so we expect it to be much better after this software change.
Via 9To5Google