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You know your Samsung Galaxy phone has a fingerprint scanner. But what you might not know is that the fingerprint scanner can be used to launch apps and shortcuts (I didn’t). Samsung hid this ability behind a poorly named feature in Good Lock, and I’m glad to have found it.
Samsung’s worst-kept secret, the Good Lock suite of tools, is one of the best things about owning a Galaxy phone. As great as it is, it can be even better—some options are more useful than might appear at first glance. The ability to launch apps with the fingerprint scanner is a perfect example.
A nifty feature hidden behind a boring name
You just have to know where to look
For those who aren’t aware, Good Lock is an official Samsung app that doesn’t come pre-installed on phones. That’s because it unlocks a huge number of power user settings and features—things that many people don’t care about. However, if you love getting the most out of your phone, I highly recommend installing it.
Good Lock is much more than just an app. It’s essentially a launching pad for a bunch of plugins that extend the functionality in various areas of your Galaxy phone. Lock screen, Quick Settings, home screen, notifications, and more. There’s also a plugin that makes Samsung’s excellent Modes & Routines app even more powerful, and that’s where the fingerprint shortcuts live.
The plugin is called “Routines+,” and it essentially adds more triggers and actions to Modes & Routines. One of the recommended routines is called “Fingerprint to website,” which admittedly doesn’t sound that useful, but it can be if you know how to configure it.
Launch an app or action with your fingerprint
The only limit is the number of fingers on your hands
Alright, let’s get down to it. You’ll need to make sure you’ve downloaded Good Lock from the Galaxy Store. After installing, find the “Routines+” plugin and download that as well. Routines+ can be opened from the app drawer or the plugin list in Good Lock.
Next, in order to use the fingerprint scanner to launch apps and shortcuts, you’ll need to have fingerprints saved to your Galaxy phone. To do so, head over to Settings > Security and privacy > Lock screen > Fingerprints. After you’ve recorded a fingerprint, go ahead and add another—Samsung allows you to add up to four. You can select a fingerprint and tap “Edit” to give it a more specific name, which might be useful for the next step.
With all that out of the way, let’s open Routines+. Select “Fingerprint to website” from the list of recommended routines. Now, tap “Unlock with fingerprint” from the “If” section and choose one of the fingerprints you added. Second, tap the “Edit” button in the bottom bar, remove the “Go to website” action, and select “Add action” to choose a new one. There are a bunch of great options, but I used “Apps.”
From here, it’s just a matter of selecting “Open an app or do an app action” and choosing from the list. You’ll have the option to customize the name of the routine as well. When you’re done, you’ll have a specific fingerprint linked to opening an app or shortcut. All you have to do is use that finger when unlocking the phone.
Put those fingerprints to good use, but don’t overdo it
One little tip I’ll give is to not use your “primary” finger for a routine. I’m talking about the thumb or finger that most naturally unlocks your phone. The routine doesn’t interfere with unlocking, but you probably don’t want to launch a specific app every single time you use your phone. Alternatively, you could use “Face recognition” for normal unlocking and reserve your fingerprints for the routines.
Regardless, this is a cool way to add some extra utility to an otherwise mundane daily smartphone action. The only question is, which fingers will you use?
