A new Android app lets you define quick actions based on fingerprint gestures on any phone running Marshmallow or higher. Read on for more details.
Fingerprint scanners are now going mainstream on smartphones irrespective of their price tags. Hence, it only makes sense to append more functionalities to the sensor when the phone is already unlocked. Even Google on their Pixel phones added a range of features such as swipe to reveal notifications. However, what if your OEM doesn’t include these actions? Well, there’s a third-party application for that now.
XDA member, “ztc1997” has managed to devise an Android app, “Fingerprint Quick Action” that lets you define various quick tasks when you interact with your phone’s fingerprint scanner. The application works on any non-rooted or rooted phone running Android Marshmallow 6.0 or higher. You can assign actions like put the phone to sleep (requires administrative permissions), go home, expand notifications panel, or toggle notifications panel. As of now, it only has a single tap gesture detection. The developer says he is planning to add more in the future iterations.Additionally, you can enable a setting called “response enrolled fingerprints only” which does exactly what it sounds like, executes those operations only when it detects a friendly finger. Furthermore, if your phone has an aggressive power manager, you can also allow it to be a foreground service so that the system won’t kill its process. I tested the application on a couple of devices and it seems to run flawlessly.
Unfortunately, the app is still in its early development stage, hence you’ll have to sideload an APK file. To do so, head over to this link and download the latest version located at the end of the post. Open the file and follow the instructions. It’s a fantastic little utility and we would highly suggest you give it a try if your phone’s company doesn’t offer these features natively. That’s it for this small tip.