Poll: Which abandoned Android phone features do you miss the most?
While our phones have gotten more advanced, many compromises had to made along the way. Which one was the most difficult for you to forget?
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The physical fingerprint reader on the back of the phone.
Curiously, why on the back?
I always found that a worse location than phones that had it on the side (usually paired with the power button), as you can't unlock your phone if it's lying flat on a table without picking it up.
(Also the way I typically hold my phone, the usually top centre sensor is absolutely nowhere near where any of my fingers naturally sit, and requires awkward bending to reach it)
I know a lot of people like it, but I've never been able to figure out what it was about it.
Im not OP, bit i loved my old phone with a rear fingerprint scanner. It was perfectly positioned to unlock with my index finger AS I was pulling it out of my pocket. And you could scroll up/down with it.
I do not like the power button fingerprint reader.
The 2nd and even 3rd point is not automatically true for every phone and setting. I have a combined fingerprint reader and power button on my Fairphone 5, and the 2nd thing has always worked just fine.
It also has the option to only enable the fingerprint reader if the display is on, which addresses your 3rd point completely. It means you can pick the phone up, including having a finger in the reader, and it won't turn on or unlock. You need to press down in the button to trigger the screen, then it can be unlocked. That also means that when locking it and turning off the screen actively by pressing the power button with the phone on, it never re-unlocks. To be honest this part wasn't a problem before the setting became available, as the locking would disable the fingerprint reader anyway, but letting your grip go slightly could trigger re-unlock.
Only activating the fingerprint reader when the screen is on is a regression compared to the rear reader. It means I need to squeeze the phone to unlock it, vs just placing my finger in the right spot. It also negates the purported advantage from the comment above mine about being able to easily unlock the phone while lying on a table.
I'm not arguing that the power button reader doesn't work for anyone. I'm saying that it is qualitatively worse UX for me in particular.
My eldest's phone has this. Your second point is valid and a pain in the ass.
Cases need a notch to expose the power button
I don't see why that's a problem.
Can't use the power button to lock the screen while fingerprint unlock is enabled, because it immediately unlocks itself with the fingerprint.
Sounds like you just had a shitty phone, that shouldn't happen.
Accidentally unlocks itself way often when putting it in my pocket than with the back reader.
Again, shitty phone. You're supposed to actually push the button to unlock it. Don't understand why your finger would be on the back of the phone when putting it in your pocket anyway.
Again, shitty phone. You’re supposed to actually push the button to unlock it. Don’t understand why your finger would be on the back of the phone when putting it in your pocket anyway.
This isn't a "shitty phone" thing. Every phone I've owned with a side-mounted fingerprint reader has unlocked via touch (not press). It's standard.
Again, we were talking about the back.
Yes it is. Once again, we were talking about on the back.
I hold my screen facing me so my hands are already resting on the back.
I’d pull it out of my pocket with my finger naturally on the back side and it would be unlocked by the time I viewed the screen.
Lots of android phones have a physical fingerprint reader
on the back of the phone.
On the side isn't good enough?
Their preference was the back. So no.
To me it sounded like the main distinction they were trying to make was a dedicated fingerprint reader button rather than an in-screen finger print reader. This is a common preference because the hardware scanner you can activate by touch without working about proper placement, whereas the in-screen readers you have to look at the screen and carefully put your finger just in the on-screen circle showing where you have to precisely place your finger