Samsung

Samsung bug prevents your phone from asking you to enroll your fingerprint during setup

Ben Schoon | Jul 10 2024 - 4:56 pm PT

Biometrics are a key part of any modern smartphone, and it’s typically something you turn on during the initial setup. Lately, though, Samsung has quietly stopped asking users to enroll their fingerprint during device setup for Galaxy phones such as the new Galaxy Z Fold 6.

Generally speaking, the setup process Samsung runs in One UI walks you through account sign-in, network setup, security settings, and enrollment for your fingerprint as well. It’s an expected part of the setup. But, oddly, recent Samsung devices seem to be skipping over that step.

I noticed this earlier today while setting up the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Samsung’s setup process simply never prompted setup for the fingerprint sensor. It seemed like an odd bug at first, but I quickly found out this isn’t a one-off case. While at the event, I confirmed with Will Sattelberg, Android Police’s Phones Editor, that his Fold 6 similarly did not prompt fingerprint enrollment, despite the device being set up from scratch with no restore from another phone. Adam Doud (commonly seen on SlashGear) and Nirave G (House of Tech) confirmed the same behavior on their devices. Andrew Myrick at Android Central also noted the lack of a setup prompt.

You can still dive into the Settings menu after initial setup is complete and add your fingerprint, but it’s really strange it’s not showing up during the setup process.

I wasn’t able to test this more recently, but I also recall that the Galaxy S24 Ultra similarly didn’t prompt me to enroll a fingerprint during setup either when I used it earlier this year, something I took as a simple bug at the time. A setup video from TechWithBrett never mentions fingerprint enrollment, but the option did appear for WorldofTech and TechnicallyAlex. To us, that implies that this may simply be a bug in One UI 6.1 that’s become more widespread in One UI 6.1.1.

Hopefully, this is something that will be fixed quickly. For new users, Samsung’s side key-mounted fingerprint sensor isn’t particularly obvious, and it could be a point of frustration with the new devices.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 are available for pre-order now with up to $1,200 in trade-in value, doubled storage for free, and other perks. You can also get up to $150 more offer with our link to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 at Samsung.com.

Samsung starts shipping its new foldables as well as Galaxy Ring, Galaxy Buds 3 (and Buds 3 Pro), Galaxy Watch 7, and Galaxy Watch Ultra on July 24.