BiometricManager

public class BiometricManager

A class that provides system information related to biometrics (e.g. fingerprint, face, etc.).

On devices running Android 10 (API 29) and above, this will query the framework's version of android.hardware.biometrics.BiometricManager. On Android 9.0 (API 28) and prior versions, this will query androidx.core.hardware.fingerprint.FingerprintManagerCompat.

See also
BiometricPrompt

To prompt the user to authenticate with their biometric.

Summary

Nested types

Types of authenticators, defined at a level of granularity supported by BiometricManager and BiometricPrompt.

Provides localized strings for an application that uses BiometricPrompt to authenticate the user.

Constants
static final int

The user can't authenticate because the hardware is unavailable.
static final int

The user can't authenticate because no biometric or device credential is enrolled.
static final int

The user can't authenticate because there is no suitable hardware (e.g. no biometric sensor or no keyguard).
static final int

The user can't authenticate because a security vulnerability has been discovered with one or more hardware sensors.
static final int

The user can't authenticate because the specified options are incompatible with the current Android version.
static final int

Unable to determine whether the user can authenticate.
static final int

The user can successfully authenticate.

Public methods
int

This method is deprecated.

Use canAuthenticate instead.
int
canAuthenticate(int authenticators)

Checks if the user can authenticate with an authenticator that meets the given requirements.
static @NonNull BiometricManager
from(@NonNull Context context)

Creates a BiometricManager instance from the given context.
@Nullable BiometricManager.Strings
@RequiresPermission(value = Manifest.permission.USE_BIOMETRIC)
getStrings(int authenticators)

Produces an instance of the Strings class, which provides localized strings for an application, given a set of allowed authenticator types.

Constants

BIOMETRIC_ERROR_HW_UNAVAILABLE

Added in 1.0.0
public static final int BIOMETRIC_ERROR_HW_UNAVAILABLE = 1

The user can't authenticate because the hardware is unavailable. Try again later.

BIOMETRIC_ERROR_NONE_ENROLLED

Added in 1.0.0
public static final int BIOMETRIC_ERROR_NONE_ENROLLED = 11

The user can't authenticate because no biometric or device credential is enrolled.

BIOMETRIC_ERROR_NO_HARDWARE

Added in 1.0.0
public static final int BIOMETRIC_ERROR_NO_HARDWARE = 12

The user can't authenticate because there is no suitable hardware (e.g. no biometric sensor or no keyguard).

BIOMETRIC_ERROR_SECURITY_UPDATE_REQUIRED

Added in 1.1.0
public static final int BIOMETRIC_ERROR_SECURITY_UPDATE_REQUIRED = 15

The user can't authenticate because a security vulnerability has been discovered with one or more hardware sensors. The affected sensor(s) are unavailable until a security update has addressed the issue.

BIOMETRIC_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED

Added in 1.1.0
public static final int BIOMETRIC_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED = -2

The user can't authenticate because the specified options are incompatible with the current Android version.

BIOMETRIC_STATUS_UNKNOWN

Added in 1.1.0
public static final int BIOMETRIC_STATUS_UNKNOWN = -1

Unable to determine whether the user can authenticate.

This status code may be returned on older Android versions due to partial incompatibility with a newer API. Applications that wish to enable biometric authentication on affected devices may still call BiometricPrompt#authenticate() after receiving this status code but should be prepared to handle possible errors.

BIOMETRIC_SUCCESS

Added in 1.0.0
public static final int BIOMETRIC_SUCCESS = 0

The user can successfully authenticate.

Public methods

canAuthenticate

Added in 1.0.0
Deprecated in 1.1.0
public int canAuthenticate()

Checks if the user can authenticate with biometrics. This requires at least one biometric sensor to be present, enrolled, and available on the device.

Returns
int

BIOMETRIC_SUCCESS if the user can authenticate with biometrics. Otherwise, returns an error code indicating why the user can't authenticate, or BIOMETRIC_STATUS_UNKNOWN if it is unknown whether the user can authenticate.

canAuthenticate

Added in 1.1.0
public int canAuthenticate(int authenticators)

Checks if the user can authenticate with an authenticator that meets the given requirements. This requires at least one of the specified authenticators to be present, enrolled, and available on the device.

Note that not all combinations of authenticator types are supported prior to Android 11 (API 30). Specifically, DEVICE_CREDENTIAL alone is unsupported prior to API 30, and BIOMETRIC_STRONG | DEVICE_CREDENTIAL is unsupported on API 28-29. Developers that wish to check for the presence of a PIN, pattern, or password on these versions should instead use isDeviceSecure.

Parameters
int authenticators

A bit field representing the types of Authenticators that may be used for authentication.
Returns
int

BIOMETRIC_SUCCESS if the user can authenticate with an allowed authenticator. Otherwise, returns BIOMETRIC_STATUS_UNKNOWN or an error code indicating why the user can't authenticate.

from

Added in 1.0.0
public static @NonNull BiometricManager from(@NonNull Context context)

Creates a BiometricManager instance from the given context.

Parameters
@NonNull Context context

The application or activity context.
Returns
@NonNull BiometricManager

An instance of BiometricManager.

getStrings

Added in 1.4.0-alpha02
@RequiresPermission(value = Manifest.permission.USE_BIOMETRIC)
public @Nullable BiometricManager.Strings getStrings(int authenticators)

Produces an instance of the Strings class, which provides localized strings for an application, given a set of allowed authenticator types.

Parameters
int authenticators

A bit field representing the types of Authenticators that may be used for authentication.
Returns
@Nullable BiometricManager.Strings

A Strings collection for the given allowed authenticator types.