Ever since touchscreen smart phones came out, the only thing that worked on them was fingerprints. Touchscreens are supposed to replace all the buttons on a phone, but no one ever puts their finger on it. Why do touch screens only work with your fingers? I will explain why and how they can be made differently to make the phone truly mobile.

One of the main problems is that fingerprints are too obvious to be used for navigation. Your fingerprint is just a number, easily picked by a thief. The new capacitive type of screen, which uses only pressure to track movements, would make it harder. You would have to apply force, or even feel your way along the screen. This makes it impossible to do what you would normally do with a phone, like browsing the web or checking email.

Instead, the touchscreen must use something called capacitance. Capacitive means that there is a different electrical charge associated with each finger. Your finger sends a “signal” to the phone, telling it how you want to use the screen. If two fingers are used, instead of one finger sending a signal, it sends a different signal. You can tell that the screen is picking up your finger’s signals because the red dots will move in a straight line as you swipe the screen. If a thief is standing right next to you and notices that you are moving your finger around, chances are they will know that you are typing in the keyboard.

To solve this problem, we need to add a second fingerprint sensor to the phone. Your fingerprint will pick up the signal from your other hand. The new phone could have multiple fingerprint sensors, or it could use your fingerprint to unlock it. When someone else presses the Home key while the fingerprint sensor is active, the phone unlocks with the person’s finger. If you have ever stolen a phone and had to reset it, you know how frustrating it can be to try to get it to turn on without the password or memory card.

There is another type of fingerprint scanner on the market today, called capacitive fingerprint scanners. These kinds of scanners work by picking up the same “fingerprint” that your finger does, but it uses a slightly different technology. Instead of picking up the individual finger, it picks up the entire hand. If your fingers are busy typing on the keyboard or the phone isn’t set up properly, you wouldn’t even know it’s there. The problem is that it doesn’t seem to be as secure as the traditional fingerprint scanners, which might pose a security risk.

You can tell that companies like Apple are catering their devices to the public, which is why they include fingerprint options. Even though the new phones would have multiple fingerprints, the “intrusion detection” feature of the phone might be something that would make it hard for thieves to access the phone. This feature would give the thief less chances at breaking into your phone. Although it may be more secure than using your finger, you still want to make sure you can easily use the phone without your fingerprint being visible.