How to speed up the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro fingerprint scanner

I was one of the lucky Pixel users to obtain a new Pixel 6 Pro and so far the phone has not disappointed (check out Pixel 6 Pro is the smartphone all other smartphones should strive to be). It’s lightning-fast, includes the best array of camera sensors and software I’ve ever used, is beautifully designed (the subtle curve glass in the Pixel 6 Pro is reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy phones), and the artificial intelligence abilities are stellar.

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But there has been one sticking point for many—the fingerprint scanner. I’ll confess it hasn’t bothered me all that much. Sure, it’s not nearly as fast as the Pixel 5 fingerprint scanner, but it’s not as though it takes 30 seconds to get your fingerprint recognized. I have, however, noticed the laggy nature of the scanner on numerous occasions. So, eventually, I started poking around to see if there was a way to fix this problem.

The solution was so obvious I was surprised the Google developers didn’t enable it out of the box. Let me share this fix. Since I’ve made this change, I haven’t had a single problem with the fingerprint scanner on my Pixel 6 Pro.

What you’ll need

To enable this fix, you’ll only need either a Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro, as both devices make use of the in-screen fingerprint scanner. With either device in hand, let’s get this issue resolved.

How to increase touch sensitivity

The fix for the in-screen fingerprint scanner is to enable an increase in touch sensitivity. This feature is geared toward those who use screen protectors so that the touch display will function properly. It turns out, by enabling the feature, without a screen protector, the fingerprint scanners work considerably better. 

So how do you enable the Increase touch sensitivity feature? Like so:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Display
3. Scroll down to Increase touch sensitivity
4. Tap the On/Off slider to enable the feature (Figure A)

Figure A

Once you’ve done this, exit out of settings and press the power button to lock the device. When you press your registered fingerprint to the scanner, it should recognize it almost immediately. 

And that’s the quick and simple fix for all that woes the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro fingerprint scanner. Hopefully, in an upcoming update, Google will make the necessary changes to the underlying software so that this option isn’t needed to bring the fingerprint scanner up to par with the competition. I don’t think the in-screen fingerprint scanners will ever best the dedicated hardware option, but with just enough tweaking, the developers should be able to get the speed and reliability to the point where the difference is negligible. 

Enjoy that speedier new biometric login with your fancy Pixel phone.

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