2017 was the year we saw the Home Button disappear from the iPhone courtesy of the iPhone X, but it was replaced with Face ID, which meant an ugly notch at the top of an otherwise all-display smartphone. Next year, it's unlikely the iPhone X notch will be copied because Synaptics has a better solution.

Exactly one year ago today Synaptics announced it had created an optical-based fingerprint sensor that can work through the cover glass present on a smartphone touchscreen. 12 months later and Synaptics is now mass producing this optical sensor, which has been appropriately named Clear ID.

Mass production means smartphones planned for release in 2018 will be able to incorporate it, so I suspect at least one premium handset launching next year will use it. Synaptics also points out Clear ID is faster than other biometrics solutions including 3D facial as is used on the iPhone X.

Clear ID is also very secure thanks to Synaptics' SentryPoint Security Suite, which prevents biometric data reverse engineering, uses 256-bit encryption to protect the stored data, and ensures the biometric data never leaves the host's trusted execution environment by using hardware-generated one-time encryption keys.

For anyone using a smartphone with Clear ID, the advantages are clear. The front of the handset can be one giant display without any buttons or notches required. The fingerprint scanning is unaffected by heat or cold, and it even works if your finger is wet. And as it is under glass, it's protected from damage.

Very fast fingerprint access on the front of a smartphone without need of a button and accessible even when not holding your phone is sure to be popular. The question now is, which smartphone will get it first? I'm pretty sure it won't be an iPhone as Apple is now focused on Face ID.