Electronic device including finger-operated input device based biometric matching and related methods

An electronic device comprising:

• a portable housing;
• a pushbutton switch carried by said portable housing;
• a finger sensor carried by said finger-operated input device to sense a user's finger;
• and
• a processor to
• perform a plurality of applications,
• perform at least one device function responsive to an operation of said pushbutton switch,
• acquire finger-matching biometric data of the user's finger responsive to each of a plurality of operations of said finger sensor, and
• authenticate the user based upon an authentication request from one of the plurality of applications, the authentication being based upon a match of most recently acquired finger-matching biometric data and finger-enrollment biometric data.

A method of authenticating a user of an electronic device comprising a finger-operated input device, a finger sensor carried by the finger-operated input device to sense a user's finger, and a processor coupled to the finger sensor, the method comprising:

• using the processor to
• perform a plurality of applications,
• perform at least one device function responsive to an operation of the finger-operated input device,
• acquire finger-matching biometric data of the user's finger responsive to each of a plurality of operations of the finger-operated input device, and
• authenticate the user based upon an authentication request from one of the plurality of applications, the authentication being based upon a match of most recently acquired finger-matching biometric data and finger-enrollment biometric data.