‘Intelligent Scan’ will upgrade face unlock on Samsung’s Galaxy S9, ‘3D Stickers’ also arriving

We’re quickly coming up to the launch of Samsung’s first flagship for 2018, the Galaxy S9, and the rumors and leaks are starting to fly. After getting our first good look at the phone and specs last week, a new report today is revealing a couple of features that will arrive on the phone.

Discovered in an APK teardown of Samsung’s settings application for Oreo (via VentureBeat), a handful of strings reveal features on the upcoming Galaxy S9. Obviously, the names showing up in an Oreo beta for the Note 8 hints at the possibility that these features could arrive for older phones as well, but we’ll probably see them debut first on the S9 and S9+.

The first big feature revealed here is “Intelligent Scan.” Clearly as a means to compete with Apple’s Face ID, this feature uses a combination of Samsung’s iris scanner and its facial recognition technology. It does this to “improve accuracy and security even in low or very bright light.”

Lighting is one area Samsung’s facial unlocking features have struggled on the Galaxy S8 and Note 8, so it’ll be interesting to see how the S9 can improve that without any new sensors.

It’s important to note that Intelligent Scan doesn’t replace facial recognition or iris scanning, but will disable the other two if in use. If Samsung’s claims are accurate, though, Intelligent Scan will obviously be the better choice.

Another interesting tidbit about this feature is that it apparently will be able to replace fingerprint authentication completely. While Samsung’s other options could only be used for unlocking the phone, Intelligent Scan will apparently be able to also verify your identity within applications and sign in to websites.

Along with Intelligent Scan, Samsung is also adding a couple of new camera-related features. The first of those is “3D Stickers” which, at first glance, might seem like an Animoji competitor. However, 3D Stickers are apparently an AR feature akin to Google’s AR Stickers on the Pixel 2.

“Tag Shot” will also be available as a way to tag photos with location data and weather information. Another string suggests that “Smart Rotation” will be making a comeback from some of the first Galaxy S devices.

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