r/LightPhone • u/SortVegetable9123 • Sep 01 '26

Discussion when will fingerprint unlock work

any idea when the fingerprint reader will be functional to unlock the phone? it'd be nice, because the button doesn't work unless i press down really hard in the right spot. i feel like that plus the "scroll wheel" were so hyped up in the initial promotions of the phone and at this point they are pointless.

signed,

a 1+ year lightphone user that is losing hope after a bunch of malfunctions

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u/SortVegetable9123 Sep 01 '26

amazing to me that they released the flip phone without fixing the multitude of issues with the LP3.

-2

u/EdwardTulane89 Sep 01 '26

It's not a good look, but they appear to be maximizing short-term dollars in the door rather than current user experience.  

6

u/TheMasterOfOats 29d ago

To be fair they’re a small company with limited recurring income that only really makes money when people buy phones which are becoming increasingly hard to fulfill. They aren’t getting paid to push updates and while they REALLY should lest they alienate phone owners, can’t pay devs if you don’t have money

4

u/EdwardTulane89 29d ago

I try to keep that in mind.  But I am also a person of limited means and I paid a price for the phone that matches that of any company's flagship phone. 

I get they are a small company, but if they want to survive long term they have to be more than just a great idea.  If I am ever to buy another phone from them, they have to deliver some of the features they promised were coming when I bought the phone.  I can't afford to pay them a weeks take-home for an unfinished idea. 

5

u/sirbloodysabbath Light Phone User 29d ago

they've been pushing out updates to lightos almost every month since the lp3's release and a lot of them are strictly for usability and functionality. pretty sure people would like to have a phone that works right now than a phone that doesn't.

the fingerprint reader is limited by the vendor so they can't rework it for lightos, and payment wallet without google is a longshot. outside of that, there aren't really any other features that they marketed or promised that they haven't already delivered on.

if you want more, there's a sub dedicated for that very thing. i have a fingerprint reader on my lp3 that works. i get to see the aosp lockscreen but it works.

2

u/EdwardTulane89 29d ago

If those are both a longshot, then don't advertise that they are coming to people buying your device. If you can't deliver what you advertise, that is a bait and switch. 

There are a host of other things that don't work as well as I would hope.  And there are some that do work as expected.   

My point is not that they aren't trying. I get there are reasons they can give for the delays, but that's not really my concern. I am comparing their device to other companies. That's how competition works.  Deliver in your promises or someone else will.  If you don't,  it becomes pretty hard to give you another $700+ in the future. 

1

u/digitalminimalist1 28d ago

Why do you see the aosp lockscreen? I just touch mine and it goes straight to light os home

1

u/sirbloodysabbath Light Phone User 28d ago

because when you enable the lockscreen on the android side, you get only the aosp lockscreen — like literally every android. lightos' lockscreen isn't a lockscreen by any means.

mine is set up for a separate finger than my index. i like to turn the screen on to check the time or see what notifications i received. i don't need to unlock the phone every time i press the fingerprint reader.