Hi
I am very happy to announce that I am finally a Android 13 user for my FP3.
Since the update fingerprint for 1Password is gone.
“Tap Security, then turn on any biometric unlock options you want to use.” - There is no option!
What is to do?
Best regards
Zange
In my case there are several applications that stopped unlocking with the fingerprint (e.g. Authy, my banking app, my medical insurance app, etc.) while some keep working (protonmail, bitwarden)…
…and in one of the apps that is no longer able to unlock with the fingerprint the option “use the fingerprint to unlock” is disabled.
To my knowledge this is due to hightened security requirements by Google in Android 13 wrt. 11 which means the fingerprint hardware in the FP3 is no longer seen as “secure enough” by Google for the highest level of access to certain Android APIs including unlocking the Android keystore.
As Fairphone has to pass Google certification there is no way to “cheat” around this. Maybe custom ROMs can.
Edit: here are some techy details
are people now left outside of their protected payloads or how does this fingerprint authentication backend get handled by the new android? is there a fallback or are people left stranded with no access any more?
Guess you might need to read the above linked and ask Google.
The fingerprint is used instead of the password of the respective app.
So in the banking app you need to input your banking password.
In your password manager you’ll need to input your master password (keepass2android allows a so-called “quick unlock” where you only have to enter the last couple of characters of your full password which you will have to enter fully e.g. after a reboot once).
And so on.
So I guess everyone affected in more than one app who hasn’t used a password manager so far, now might be a good time.
Edit: I guess I haven’t written it explicitly, but on a daily driver this regression really, really sucks even with a password manager as workaround.
Edit 2: yeah, if someone totally relied on the fingerprint sensor and completely forgot the password it was replacing, access might be lost. Depending on the app, different scenarios could be possible. E.g. for my banking app I would probably have to reset the app and request a new activation with initial password via snail mail if I had no way to recover my app password (which is why I use and recommend a password manager).
Edit 3: there has been at least one case of some federal app from Austria that only allows biometric unlocking, so cases exist where no app password as fallback is possible
If I take my bank apps, one works with the fingerprint but two now require I enter numbers provided by a small “calculator”. It won’t work with a password manager but I have to carry these calculators with me all the time (not difficult but unpleasant and longer to connect).
Just discovered this after upgrading to 13, it’s a massive PITA for me. Why on earth was this not mentioned in the release notes???
Wtf did Fairphone think when they released this version without proper release notes? “New Bluetooth codec and many more”. The not working fingerprint is not the only thing I am angry about.
&
Sorry to mention that again but you should adress that towards Google and/or that respective app provider.
Google made the decision and flagged several fingerprint devices as “weak” and some (but at the moment not all, but I guess the number will grow over time) app developers put that decision into code. No Fairphone fault at all in this case.
Nevertheless, if you take security seriously, think twice about “fingerprint security” and btw: There´s already an answer/solution to this topic (so please … if you think it´s worth to argue about this issue better start a new one)
All the best
DonFnord
I don’t agree here, because the communication of the fact wasn’t handled well.
Having release notes ready as soon as the update gets rolled out is a bare minimum if you ask me and that point should have been included.
That at least would have enabled others to warn about the consequences, in case those wouldn’t have been too explicit in the release notes.
I quite agree. This was a feature that worked and people used before the update and now doesn’t work as a direct result of the update. My guess is that Fairphone knew about this but went ahead with it anyway as “Our phone technically works for 7 years but expect features to stop working during that time” doesn’t fit with their messaging.
Sorry if you think the way I manage my own data on my own device is wrong.
Google may well be the instigator of the latest FP3 problem but Fairphone are wholly responsible for pushing this OS update which in turn has removed fingerprint functionability. Epic fail (unless they do find a work-a-round).
Did they not check the Google requirements before pressing forward with Android 13? Would this have been a problem with Android 12? Did any beta testers report the issue and if yes, why did they press ahead with the roll out?
I think Fairphone should give owners a choice of an OS rollback. Your choice, either full phone functionability with no further updates OR updates as is.
Anyone know why this is this thread marked as solved? Have I missed something.
Manual installation is still available for Android 11, 10 or 9 currently (as 12 was skipped to get to 13) …
https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360048050332
Invaluable information. Thank you!!!
Whereas I agree with the later, what choice is there, not to upgrade, so yes a warnig may have eased the transition, but not to transit to A13 is a no no
Nothing will change, it is a it is…
Hi Ingo,
I agree that the communication wasn´t handled well in this case. The end users were not able to review this information before the update.
Question for me is rather who/what is the source of this bad way of communication?
I can´t find any indication in the Android 13 release notes and here within Google´s release note I would see the one responsible for this issue.
Sorry if you feel hurt but I didn´t intend to judge anything as wrong or right. I just stated that “fingerprint security” is not secure.