The Samsung Galaxy S23 smartphones are fantastic devices. However, one issue started plaguing them with update 6.1: a bug with the fingerprint scanner. Users have complained that the scanner doesn't work on the first attempt to unlock the phone. On the second attempt, everything worked fine, which was a pretty major annoyance for phone owners.
Some users have even complained that the fingerprint scanner on their phone crashed whenever they tried to unlock the device. It would relaunch and work on the second try, which is a small consolation for how annoying it is to deal with.
The issue doesn't affect all Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra users. Still, enough people are dealing with the annoying problem that Samsung appears to be working on an update to fix the problem, as the company acknowledged on its Korean community forum.
In the post, which was translated by Android Authority, a Samsung community manager said, "We apologize for any inconvenience caused when using the device. We have confirmed that in some cases, fingerprint recognition on the lock screen does not work properly, or a notification window appears."
The company addressed its plans to deal with the issue in the future, "We plan to release software that improves the problem, so please keep your phone up to date. We apologize once again for the inconvenience caused, and please wait a little while for the software update."
Unfortunately, Samsung didn't say when it plans to release the software update to fix the lock screen issue. If you're dealing with it, you could be stuck unlocking your Galaxy phone a couple of times before it opens. Hopefully, the company will be speedy and get it done as soon as possible, as it's a rather annoying issue for owners of Samsung's expensive smartphones to work with.
If you're stuck dealing with the issue, you might want to think about switching to a PIN or Face Unlock until the issue is fixed. These will grant you quick, secure access to your phone without fighting with the buggy fingerprint reader. Once the update drops, you can comfortably switch back to the fingerprint scanner again.
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