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by mb0 3456 days ago
I've heard that people with hyperhydrosis have a lot of trouble with biometrics devices as well as smart phones. If your skin is too moist it just kinda gums up the works.
2 comments

I have a lot of problems with touch screens. Some screens refuse to register my touch, and other screens register my touch before I even make contact with the screen. If you turn on developer tools in android and look at the "touches", you can see them registering all over if I have my fingers a cm or so above the screen.

I have really moist skin, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was the issue. I had a fingerprint reader on my gen 1 Motorola Atrix and that worked just fine though. I think the company that built that authentication system was purchased by Apple and used in the iPhones. I wonder if his wife would have the same issues with his phone, it might be that his fingerprint scanner is less sensitive.

Makes sense, my biggest annoyance with the fingerprint reader is that it doesn't work reliably if your finger is at all wet (like while cooking).