In short
Setting up the App takes one email address and one biometric confirmation. There is no password to invent, and after the first time there is nothing to type at all — your face or fingerprint is the whole sign-in.
What is actually happening underneath: your phone generates a key pair, keeps the private half in its secure hardware, and registers the public half against your account. From then on the phone proves who it is by signing a challenge. That is why this is quick, and also why a new phone is a deliberate re-enrollment rather than a restore.
On this page
The first run, step by step
- Install and open the AppNothing is required before this. You do not need an account made on the website first.
- Enter your email addressThis is the only thing you type. Whatever you enter, the response looks the same — the App never tells you whether an address already has an account, because that would let anybody test addresses against the platform.
- Open the enrollment link in your emailOpen it on the same phone. The link is tied to the device that asked for it and will not work anywhere else.
- Confirm with your face or fingerprintYour phone creates a key pair and stores the private half where only a biometric unlocks it. Nothing about your face or fingerprint leaves the device, or is sent anywhere.
- You are inThe public half of the key is now registered against your account, and this phone can sign in on its own.
The enrollment link, and its rules
| Rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Single use | Once it has been used it is spent. Ask for another if you need one |
| Device-bound | It only works on the phone that requested it. Forwarding it to a colleague or opening it on a laptop achieves nothing |
| Time-limited | It expires about an hour after it is sent |
| Silent about accounts | Requesting one never reveals whether that address is registered |
The device binding is worth dwelling on, because it is what makes an emailed link safe to use for sign-in at all. Even somebody with full access to your inbox cannot turn that link into a session on their own phone — the enrollment is tied to the handset that started it.
What signing in looks like afterwards
Why the device matters so much
Your account is not a password that any device could present. It is a set of registered devices, each holding a key that its own hardware protects. This is deliberately stricter than a password, and it has consequences worth understanding before you need them.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| You get a new phone | It is a new device with no key. You enroll it, which is a fresh email and biometric — not a restore |
| You restore a backup onto another handset | The key does not come with it. This is the point: a stolen backup does not become your account |
| You lose the phone | Revoke that device from another one you still have, or use account recovery |
| You use two phones | Perfectly normal. Each is enrolled separately and both appear in your device list |
| Somebody has your email password | They still cannot sign in as you — the enrollment link only works on the device that asked for it |
Managing your devices
The App can list the devices registered to your account and revoke any of them. Revoking removes that device's ability to sign in; the device would have to enroll again from scratch.
Worth checking occasionally, and worth checking immediately if you have sold, lost or replaced a handset. A device you no longer possess but have not revoked is the one genuine weak point in an otherwise strong arrangement.
Permissions the App asks for
| Permission | Why | If you decline |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | Reading Linxy Marks, barcodes and QR codes | Scanning does not work at all |
| Biometric | Unlocking the key that signs you in | Sign-in cannot complete |
| Notifications | Messages, connection requests, sign-in approvals | Everything still works; you will not be told about it in time |
| Location | Only for Marks whose owners have gated them to a place | Location-gated items refuse to open; everything else is unaffected |
| Microphone | Detecting audio signals, when you turn that on | Audio detection is unavailable; camera scanning is not affected |
| Photos | Choosing an image when you create something from the phone | Create from a different source instead |
Symptoms, causes and fixes
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The enrollment email has not arrived | Delivery delay, or it landed in spam — common on a first send to a new address | Check spam, wait a few minutes, then request one more. Do not request repeatedly |
| The link says it has expired | More than about an hour has passed, or it was already used | Request a fresh one and open it promptly |
| The link does nothing when opened | It was opened on a different device from the one that asked | Open it on the phone running the App. Forwarding cannot work by design |
| Sign-in fails after a phone restore | The key did not travel with the backup, deliberately | Enroll the handset as a new device |
| The biometric prompt never appears | Biometrics are not set up in the phone's own settings | Set up Face ID or fingerprint at the system level first |
| You are asked for a biometric on every use | Working as intended — it is the sign-in, not an extra layer | Nothing to change |
| The App asks for your face or fingerprint every time it opens | Enable Biometric is on, so the App stays locked — scanner included — until you answer | Expected. It can be paused under Settings → Security, which also pauses LinxyPass approvals on this phone. See Devices and settings |
| An old phone still shows in your devices | Enrollments persist until revoked | Revoke it. Do this as part of replacing a handset |
Things people commonly get wrong
Help is one tap away. The bottom bar of the App has three buttons: Home, Scan and Help. Help opens this Help Center inside the App, and More Tools → Help & Resources goes to the same place. To write to us, use Contact Us under Support in Settings.
Related reading: Recovering your account after losing your device, Scanning with the Linxy App, What Fusion actually means, and LinxyPass in the App.