Fingerprint scanner gestures patented by Samsung

Multiple companies are trying to implement more stuff on the fingerprint scanners. Many tried something new with putting gestures on it. Huawei Honor has been known for these gestures for a while now, and many were hoping that it would be included in the Nexus 6P. However, that never happened and Google was able to bring this feature to the Pixel and Pixel XL. But, it seems Samsung has a patent for this type of functionality, at least in South Korea.

The fact that they filed a patent for the gestures a two whole years ago tells that they have been thinking about this type of feature for a while. Even though some implemented this feature, the illustrations submitted in the patent documents show a completely different implementation than we’ve seen on any smartphone today.

The illustrations show that by swiping up on the fingerprint scanner will launch the web browser. Swiping to the left launches a saved contact and swipe to the right brings up your messaging application. These gestures might be customizable within the new TouchWiz OEM skin, but we will have to wait to be sure.

However, companies own lots of patents for things that are never used in their own products. So this might be something that Samsung wants to keep in their trove of patents.