Interesting things can come from picking through the Android code graciously provided by the Android Open Source Project. As it turns out, you might even be able to find evidence of development issues for Google's own devices, including information about a planned fingerprint sensor that was cut from the Nexus 6 before release.
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The folks over at Ars Technica have done the work of scouring through Android's code commits to uncover the story of the Nexus 6 fingerprint scanner that never was. Early rumors for the phone included the possibility of a fingerprint sensor similar to what iPhone users have in Apple's Touch ID. Over time, however – specifically in late August, based on the time of the relevant commit – Android's support for fingerprint scanning was removed. Presumably, the hardware that was to be put in the Nexus 6 didn't pan out, and the idea was set aside.
According to the folks that have taken the time to gut the Nexus 6 and see what's inside, Google's latest phablet doesn't have the hardware necessary to support fingerprint scanning anymore, even if Google decided to reactivate the feature in a later build of Android. If the company decides to go down that avenue again, Nexus users will have to wait for a new phone to come out to be able to take advantage of it.
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As we've seen from the iPhone 5S and its successors, fingerprint scanning can have a lot of useful functions on a smartphone. From logging into apps without needing a password to securely using a service like Apple Pay or, you know, Google Wallet, fingerprinting technology certainly has a legitimate place in the smartphone industry.
Maybe the phone's developers ran out of time and couldn't make the fingerprint scanner work as well as they wanted it to, or maybe Google decided it didn't want to go down that particular road this year after all. Either way, it's clear that Google has at least started setting up fingerprint scanning in its Nexus line. Maybe they'll have the tech ready by this time next year.
