Samsung patent application reveals fingerprint swipe shortcuts coming to its future phones

It looks like fingerprint gestures aren't hot just for Google, which built a fingerprint notification swipe inside the Pixel phones. Apparently, Samsung is working on such an implementation of its own, as these patent applications reveal.

The patent drawings describe a fingerprint scanner sensitive to swipe gestures. Swiping up opens the browser, swiping left calls the contact list, and swiping right opens up the message app. It's a simple, but convenient bit of functionality that's bound to make it into Samsung's future smartphones.

The patent application was submitted a year and a half ago, which means there's a good chance that the technology is ready to ship – especially since Google and Huawei already have phones that do something similar with their fingerprint scanners. Perhaps the Galaxy S8 and its rumored optical fingerprint sensor will be the first to introduce the technology.

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