Right on My Fingertips...

It was time to finally upgrade from my old mobile phone, never a fun process – all the more so since the final decision included changing networks -- but less painful than it was years ago.  But still an annoyance because I tend to use my phone less than the norm.  (And far-less than heavy phone users.)  Though for all that, I got a good “flagship” phone, the Pixel 6, that’s far-above my fairly-limited needs, but it was such a remarkable deal from T-Mobile that it would have idiotic to pass it up.  The phone only cost just $99.  The only “downside” was that you have to commit to sticking with them for two years, and that’s no problem at all.  And besides, my oft-mentioned tech whiz guru Ed Bott has the Pixel 6 and recommended it.  As I said, I it would have been idiotic to pass up.

This is about another matter related to getting the new phone, not a review, but it's still worth mentioning a few things about it first before getting to have the subject at hand fits into it all.
 
I checked with people in my building and friends who have T-Mobile service, and everyone was very happy with their service.  It subsequently turns out that I can’t get 5G from my apartment, though I can just a few blocks away – apparently there must be building that block the towers, though that could change if new towers are added.  However this is pretty much a non-issue.  People tend to be connected to Wi-Fi when in their apartment, not the 5G network – and besides, if I’m going to be streaming in my home, it’ll almost always been on my computer, not my phone.  The new phone gets 5G perfectly when I’m out and about, and that’s where it counts.
 
(What’s always intrigued me about Pixels is that they’re made by Google – and Google makes the Android operating system.  So, Pixels not only have certain features that Google makes exclusive to the Pixel, but they're always modified with the latest updates as soon as they're available.  That’s not generally the case with other phones, since updates are only offered when a network wants to make them available.  And except for the highest-end phones, it’s often not worth the effort to do so on a regular basis, and so they don’t.)
 
But as I said, this is about another matter.  A minor issue, but I figured out an interesting way to resolve it, in case anyone else is having the same problem, one which I suspect is not terribly uncommon.
 
I’ve grown to like fingerprint sensors, and the one on my old Motorola phone worked pretty well.  The reviews of the Pixel 6 were all laudatory, but one of the few consistent negatives from reviews and user comments was that the finger sensory didn’t work great. 
 
And I found that to be the case.  The fingerprint sensor is very inconsistent, I programmed four of my fingerprints and find it’s only working at first tap for any of them about 20% of the time, and even after multiple attempts, only about 65%.  And after enough failed-tries, I get bumped to the keypad to use my PIN.  Not a huge problems, but a disappointment.  Especially for what’s otherwise such a good, flagship phone.  In fairness, I’m sure that part of the issue is because (with all hand-washing everyone does these days) my fingertips are pretty dry -- when I wet them and then dry them off, the sensor seems to work better.  Though my dry fingertips are the same condition as when I had the Motorola, and it did a better job with the sensor.  Not a major deal, as I said, that’s why God created PINs, though a shame.

Then, I had what I thought might be a brainstorm.
 
I decided to redo my fingerprints for the sensor.  But – rather than clean my hands and moisten the fingertips first so that they’d be clear of grime and make the best-possible print…I came up with a counter-intuitive theory –
 
I decided to keep my fingertips dry and less than ideal when I re-programmed fingerprints, so that that would be what the sensor would initially register and then subsequently hopefully recognize each time when my fingers were their normally-dry selves.
 
And…so far it’s working wonderfully!  I re-did all four fingerprints and, bizarrely, my counter-productive idea to program my fingerprint sensor without cleaning my fingers first but using them dried out…has worked semi-impeccably!  It isn’t 100%, but so far works about 85% first time.  Which is excellent.  And it’s worked on a second or third try another 10% of the time.  So, only very, very rarely have I been bumped to the PIN keypad.  O joy!
 
So, if you find you’re having issues with the fingerprint sensor of your phone, it might be worth considering re-programming your fingerprints when they’re at their driest, but everyday-normal worst.