The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ will pack a more advanced security system designed to rival that of Apple’s FaceID, as per latest reports. An APK teardown of the Settings app on Galaxy Note 8’s Oreo beta has revealed pretty interesting information regarding the Samsung’s upcoming 2018 flagships. The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will come equipped with a new feature dubbed “Intelligent Scan”.
Intelligent Scan reportedly uses the combination of both camera-based facial detection and the IRIS scanning for “better accuracy and security” of the system. The strings of code in Settings APK, also reveal the purpose of the new feature, as one code says: "Unlock your phone using combined face and iris scanning." The feature will provide for better results even in the low or very bright light, allowing users to unlock their devices with a glance.
There is also a video hidden within the source code, which has been extracted and uploaded as a YouTube video. The 6-second animation reveals how the “Intelligent Scan” feature would work. It appears both the iris scanner and camera are active at the same time regardless of conditions and help verify the identity of the users. The Intelligent Scan will also work with any app that supports this new feature.
It seems the feature will likely be introduced with the launch of forthcoming Galaxy S9 flagship. Samsung may even choose to release the new tool for last year’s Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 devices. The Galaxy S and Note series have had both iris and facial recognition scanners for a while now, so that doesn’t rule out support for older phones.
The company will take wraps off their S9 flagship during the next Samsung Unpacked event to be held in Barcelona on February 25th. The Galaxy S9/S9+, however, will begin to ship and sell on March 16. It is also said that the Galaxy S9 duo will be the most expensive Galaxy S lineup of devices till date.