Samsung’s phones could provide a new way to unlock Windows 10

Do you own a fingerprint scanner-toting Samsung Galaxy phone and a Windows 10 computer? If so, you might soon be able to unlock that PC with your handset’s digit reader.

This will allegedly happen via Samsung’s Flow app (for W10), which already allows Galaxy TabPro S users to unlock their tablet in this manner, but Samsung has decided to expand it to cover all Windows 10 PCs, according to a report on Sammobile.

Apparently there’s been some considerable cajoling to see this feature rolled out more widely, and Samsung support confirmed to a customer that the Flow app will be rejigged for fingerprint reader support across the board after the Creators Update arrives for Windows 10 (which should be in April).

Biometric boom

Biometric authentication is becoming increasingly prevalent thanks to Windows Hello, which is part of Windows 10’s all-round tighter security – it lets you log in securely with a fingerprint sensor or webcam (facial recognition).

Of course, if you haven’t got a fingerprint reader built into your laptop, then using a partner mobile device which has a sensor, such as a Samsung phone, is a pretty handy solution.

It’s not surprising that in this climate of security fears – driven by the likes of botnets, hackers and data breaches aplenty – that stronger biometric authentication is on the rise.

Indeed, as we reported last fall, Google is looking to introduce fingerprint scanners to its Chromebooks, and the notebook rumor mill recently asserted that this functionality has now been baked into preview versions of Chrome OS.

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).