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by criddell 3605 days ago
I can't stand fingerprints on my monitor, but I don't even notice them on my phone or tablet. Before I got my first touchscreen phone, I was pretty sure the dirty screen would drive me bonkers, but that never happened.
1 comments

That's probably because phones and tablets usually have oleophobic[1] surfaces.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipophobicity

I seem to have oleophobic-proof fingerprints then. I'm constantly cleaning phone screen (swipe on jeans these days now phone is not spanking-new).

You could easily see my swipe or pin pattern from prints and smudges, even from one use, which never happened with actual keys.

The oleophobic coating does vanish with use over a period of time. That's why you wouldn't see fingerprints and such on a new device, but would on an older and well used one.
My phone screen is smudged, but it doesn't really bother me. If I spot something on my monitor, I can't get any work done until I have it cleaned off.