Samsung will soon open up its Iris Scanner to 3rd party developers

The cutting-edge iris scanner is easily one of the most interesting features of the newly announced Note 7, being that the flagship largely carries over the same components we’ve already seen this year from Samsung with the S7 family. Some folks may dismiss it as just a fancy way to unlock your phone, but diving into the details shows a lot more promise for the biometric sensor.

Iris scanning opens up a lot of doors in regard to security while the phone is in use. Take for instance Samsung’s new Secure Folder feature. You can pick and choose which documents, media, and apps require an extra level of access. The quick scan could also get you through login prompts that ask for passwords you can never remember. Even better, we have learned Samsung will soon open up  the system up to third-party app developers. 

Samsung says it will soon release a special API, within the Samsung Pass Program, that will allow developers to tinker with the biometric hardware for content security within their apps. A nifty use case we’ve heard about is online banking apps requiring a scan before jumping into your accounts. We’re sure clever app developers won’t take long to think up even more unique ideas like secret phone dialers and message apps, secure ways to log into your favorite services, and more. 

Are you excited about the new form of authentication or think that the fingerprint scanner was plenty sufficient? Is there any custom use of the iris sensor that you’d like to see?