Sooner or later the phone stops cooperating. You press the button the way you always have, and nothing happens. Press again. Nothing. It is easy to conclude the device is failing.
It probably isn't, and neither are you. The fingerprint pattern you were born with doesn't change. What changes is the skin around it. With age, skin loses collagen and moisture, the ridges flatten, and the sensor has less contrast to work with. Apple, Google, and Samsung all name dry skin in their support documentation as a cause of failed readings.
First, the reassurance. Your passcode always works, and being asked for it is not a malfunction. Phones require it anyway after a restart, after several unrecognized tries, or after two or three days without one.
Then the fixes. Make sure the finger and the sensor are both clean and dry. For dry hands, Samsung and Google both suggest hand lotion a few minutes beforehand. Cover the sensor with the whole fingertip and hold it there, since lifting too quickly is a common cause. If none of that works, delete the stored fingerprint and enroll it again, or try a different finger.
The same problem turns up away from the phone. Volunteer positions, professional licenses, and trusted traveler programs run prints through the FBI, where rejections among older applicants are common. Travelers to Europe now give four fingerprints at the border on first entry. A human fallback exists in both cases — an ink card, a border officer — but you may have to ask.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
