Google Adding Fingerprint Authentication To Next Version of Android
Scheduled to be announced next week, Android M will will include one-touch log-in for supported apps. — Google's new mobile operating system, Android M, will include native fingerprint authentication, BuzzFeed News has learned.
Context & Ripple Effects
This report lands at the starting point of Google's decade-long push to replace passwords with biometrics. Native fingerprint support in Android M gave developers an OS-level hook for one-touch log-in, which Google then extended beyond apps: first to the browser with fingerprint sensor support in Chrome 70, then through Project Abacus's plan for password-free log-ins across Android apps.
The arc runs straight into standards territory — by 2019 Google Play Services brought FIDO2 support to Android 7.0 and up, letting fingerprints or PINs authenticate against web services — and the same thread continues today in Google's 2026 Android security features like biometric 'Mark as lost' protection. The Android M announcement is the foundational move that made all of it possible.
First-order effects
- App developers building for Android M gain a native fingerprint API, so supported apps can offer one-touch log-in instead of typed passwords.
Second-order effects
- With biometric auth built into the OS, Google gains the platform position to push further — the follow-on Project Abacus effort aims to remove passwords from Android log-ins entirely by scoring trust signals.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, authentication consolidates around device-level biometrics and open standards like FIDO2 rather than per-app passwords, making the phone's sensor the primary credential for both apps and the web.
The trend: Mobile platforms are absorbing authentication into the OS itself, shifting the industry from passwords toward biometric and standards-based credentials.