Newsletter 
Samsung has reportedly just recently filed for a patent that revolves around fingerprint swipe gestures, which they could then use to incorporate the technology into future smartphones. If the use of fingerprint gestures sounds familiar, it’s likely because the function was highlighted by Google as being part of their new Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. With these two devices users can swipe down on the fingerprint sensor from the home screen to bring down the notification shade. Another swipe extends it, and a swipe up will set this all in reverse and the notification shade goes back up, so although it’s not available now, Samsung’s future flagships could have these sorts of gestures included.
Although the patent does indicate gestures for the fingerprint sensor, it doesn’t necessarily give much detail in the way of what these gestures would enable for users. It does however suggest that it would be compatible with multiple different aspects of the device, and if that’s the case then users may be able to expect the fingerprint swipe gestures on Samsung phones to include more than just one single action, so perhaps they would be able to open up apps, send quick replies from message templates and so on.
Judging by the image above that comes from the patent filing, Samsung is looking to incorporate the gestures in more than just one direction. So a swipe downward on the fingerprint sensor would initiate one gesture action, while there would also be gesture actions for a swipe left, a swipe right, and a swipe up. Although it is important to point out here that Samsung’s patent does not actually appear to depict a swipe down, just swipes up, left, and right. The image also shows a different result for each action. For example, a swipe left based on the patent image shows the dialer open, while a swipe right shows a conversation in messages, and a swipe up shows what looks like an open app or browser. If Samsung’s plan is to integrate these fingerprint sensor gestures into future devices, what isn’t known is whether or not they’ll make them compatible with just few different apps, or if they’ll make it customizable to where users could determine which gestures initiate which action.