Turns out, the Nexus 6 almost had a fingerprint scanner. According to reports, the source code for Android Lollipop shows that Google was working on a fingerprint scanner for the Nexus 6, but pulled it at the last moment, just like it did for the tap-to-wake feature. The code suggests that while the Nexus 6 didn’t make the cut, the search giant is still working on an official API for a fingerprint scanner on Android devices. The same had happened with the camera API in the KitKat source code, which was pulled before the launch of the Nexus 5 and made its way into Android in Lollipop.
The code was spotted by noted code sleuth Ron Amadeo from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). Amadeo found a commit in the source code, which said ‘Shamu: Remove fingerprint support’ implying that the prototypes of the device did have fingerprint scanners. The scanners were made by Validity Sensors Inc, that was acquired last year by Synaptics.
Interestingly, Validity Sensors had showcased a touchscreen-based fingerprint scanner earlier, thereby cutting the bezels required for the iPhone’s Touch-ID sensor. Some commits in AOSP also showed that efforts had been made to hide the fingerprint scanner API until the final version was created.
Currently, Android phones by Samsung and some others do come with fingerprint scanners, but they aren’t anywhere close to being as functional as the Touch ID sensor on the iPhone. Google’s API reportedly also included functionality for adding security to apps etc.
Source: Phonearena