Asking on behalf of a friend

[Crypt0Gore]

My friend have two android phones and he plan to reformat one and use the phone for storing coins only, no browsing or running any email account on the phone, the phone has latest android version and it has fingerprint and face recognition locks, I don't know if this is still a fair plan or makes no difference.

[Charles-Tim]

Fingerprint and face unlock are not secure like pin or password. If possible the browsing and WiFi modules can be removed from the phone, it would be best.

Fingerprint and face unlock can be used against you while sleeping or when not conscious. Do not use both, use only pin or password. Password can be of more and longer different characters. I will recommend password.

[_BlackStar]

My friend have two android phones and he plan to reformat one and use the phone for storing coins only, no browsing or running any email account on the phone, the phone has latest android version and it has fingerprint and face recognition locks, I don't know if this is still a fair plan or makes no difference.

Tell your friends that hardware wallets are no more expensive than android. If you can suggest, ask your friend to sell unused android to buy a hardware wallet because it is a more secure storage wallet than the android. The advice is much safer for him if he wants to become a bitcoin holder. You can suggest buying one of the best hardware whether it's Trezor or Ledger.

In the end I will not advise your friend to store bitcoin long term on his android, even if it is not connected to the internet. Hardware must be the best option for your friend.

[khaled0111]

OK, so the phone is going to be fully air-gapped that's a good start. But what's the wallet he is going to install on that phone? I suggest Electrum. Does he know how to safely back up his wallet? Does he know how to create a transaction from a watch-only wallet, sign it from the offline wallet then broadcast the signed transaction from an online device without compromising the security of the air-gapped phone?
It would be better to sell the phone he doesn't need any more and use the money to buy a hardware wallet, as _BlackStar suggested.

[NeuroticFish]

I had a somewhat similar dilemma at some point and I asked for input from the community.
You can see that discussion here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5377997
Overall the risk is too big and may not worth it. But really, please read that topic.

[Upgrade00]

I don't know if this is still a fair plan or makes no difference.

It is a trade off, if your friend plans to save on cost. They already own a spare device which they can use as an airgapped device. The next step would be understanding how to create a wallet, sign a transaction etc, all without being connected to the internet.

Using finger prints and face unlock are unsafe ways to secure a device. A password has been discovered to be themoat secure.

[dkbit98]

My friend have two android phones and he plan to reformat one and use the phone for storing coins only, no browsing or running any email account on the phone, the phone has latest android version and it has fingerprint and face recognition locks, I don't know if this is still a fair plan or makes no difference.

I would not use Android phone for storing any large amount of coins, but he can use it in combination with hardware wallets and that would be acceptable.
If we want's to use smartphone for pocket money than I suggest he should degoogle his phone if possible and install open source os like Graphene, Calyx, Divest or LineageOS.
He should be very careful what he installs on his phone and he should keep only minimal amount of apps he needs without any bloatware.
Remember that it's not easy to hide IP address with phones (even with VPN) so he should be aware of that when doing any transactions.

[libert19]

 You/friend are better off fingerprint/face lock, they are most vulnerable, stick with pin/password/pattern.

[Sandra_hakeem]

So how bout malware creators,hackers and phishers that'll do alot just to get you on the trail?
Are you a newbie in cryptography? I'll say you should even be more precautious and watch out for more turgid problems to solve or make way for more security bots to synchronize; my point is, storing coins on your tab isn't really of much a stress but protecting it in the blockchain's interface is a different ball-game.
I'd advise that you both should go ahead and make sure that you passcodes are kept secret both internally -- as you asked about -- and otherwise.

Sandra 👩‍🦱

[isaac_clarke22]

~

My personal rule is that I would try to always keep my money/crypto away from phones since I usually use them even without a second thought or even purpose. Regardless of how recent your Android OS is, I would personally just recommend you to instead use a hardware wallet as you even mentioned that it will be used for storing coins anyway only.

Not sure what region are you from, but hardware wallets should not be really hard to come by these days.

[sheenshane]

A fully air-gapped mobile wallet is considered as good while you don't have a hardware wallet but IMO, I won't use this for a long-term purpose.
If your friend isn't a techy one, this is not good advice.  I rather advise him to buy a hardware wallet that has built-in security inside which an air-gapped mobile phone doesn't have.

It's already given good advice above, I want to hear you and come back here what your friend decided to have, a hardware wallet or a fully air-gapped wallet.  Both are good but this is how will you manage them.

[Mr.right85]

I can say phones are as safe as many device out there (it all depends on how much security you give it) but, not as much as hardware wallets. The idea of a formating or restore factory set is good but, phones have got issues of updates and crashes which could occur whenever despite your effort to try not to.

On other notes, its best your friend goes with what he or she understands the most and feels more secured about using but, the means to security of a phone as per face lock and biometrics aren't really an advantage. Stolen phones still gets formated too so, there are several risks that are attached to a phone than hardware wallets. Most people won't know what it is except crypto users.

[odolvlobo]

My friend have two android phones and he plan to reformat one and use the phone for storing coins only, no browsing or running any email account on the phone, the phone has latest android version and it has fingerprint and face recognition locks, I don't know if this is still a fair plan or makes no difference.

My understanding that the threats to a wallet on a phone generally don't come from the browser or email. They come from downloaded apps.

As others have mentioned, fingerprint and face recognition locks are not as secure as passwords and pins.