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Apple Readying Fix for Issues with Touch ID Fading
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I don't think I'm experiencing fading, but overall touch ID has performed poorly for me. Any time that I am outside, or if my hands have the slightest bit of moisture (which is a chronic thing for me) then I can forget about trying to unlock my phone with it.
I've been having this issue myself, but I've noticed something else interesting.
Using the sensor to unlock is flaky. I've been trying to clean the sensor to get rid of the fingerprint grease (sometimes works). blaming the low humidity of a New England winter (there are times with my finger on the sensor, the ring doesn't even recognize there is a finger there). Re-scanning my finger to see no change in behavior.
But no matter how often the unlock is failing - when I use the touch sensor to buy something in the app store, it has never failed.
That has me pondering if it's really a sensor issue, or if the software for unlocking might just be 'more vigorous' than the software for purchase verification (and the sensor itself is a happy camper).
Using the sensor to unlock is flaky. I've been trying to clean the sensor to get rid of the fingerprint grease (sometimes works). blaming the low humidity of a New England winter (there are times with my finger on the sensor, the ring doesn't even recognize there is a finger there). Re-scanning my finger to see no change in behavior.
But no matter how often the unlock is failing - when I use the touch sensor to buy something in the app store, it has never failed.
That has me pondering if it's really a sensor issue, or if the software for unlocking might just be 'more vigorous' than the software for purchase verification (and the sensor itself is a happy camper).
Technically, you shouldn't be *USING YOUR PHONE WITH YOUR HANDS AT ALL* when you're driving.
FTFY.
So true!!!
I have to drive in a fairly large city. Almost every time I get into a close encounter with someone, they're talking on a phone, or looking down at one. The other day, I proceeded through an intersection and a lady on the opposite side of the intersection (with a phone to her ear), made a left-hand turn RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! I had to slam on brakes to keep from hitting her. Then, she flipped me off! I was really worried that I was the one that had gone through a red light, but when I got on the other side of the intersection, I looked in my mirrors at the stoplights, and I did indeed have the green, and she had completely blown through her red light. And, you know, I'll bet she was in her own world and probably actually thought she had a green turn arrow!!!
I refuse to use my phone while driving. All it takes is an instant and your life, and someone else's can be changed forever. It's not worth it. People driving with cellphones scare the crap of me these days!
Somebody always has to say this. How do you avoid being an early adopter? Every iPhone has a new feature or component that the previous model didn't.
This is true and happens to me... not sure if it's actually moisture still on the finger or due to what happens to the skin after it gets wet. I have this problem every time after I shave, after the shower, etc. Doesn't matter how much I dry my hands. After a few minutes it'll work ok again.
nobody is talking about software itself fading. what it does matters. Touch id software involves some kind of learning algorithm that's supposed to improve recognition of stored fingerprints the more you use it. My suspicion is that this algorithm is what's faulty and instead of making recognition better over time it makes it worse (at least for some people). after I rescan my fingerprints touch id works great for a time but then it starts failing more and more often till I rescan.
Hmm - you know that 2-day limit doesn't just apply to purchases right? It's how TouchID works so as not to give hackers time to bypass. If you don't use your phone for 48 hours (or lose it) it will require a passcode in order to unlock and restore TouchID. Same with when you power it down. It's a safeguard....
Talk about blunt knives. Some want the added security. Apple isn't going to mess around. I'm sure over time the functionality will evolve. But I for one am glad they erred on the side of cautious to begin with.
Glad to hear this
I actually just visited an Apple Store last week about this issue - mainly to rule out a hardware issue. It's the only thing about my 5s that I'm slightly disappointed with. Even with multiple prints for the same finger (and various other attempted workarounds), my iPhone seems to 'forget' my print over time.
It may just be that my particular prints aren't as readable as others, but I'm very glad that a software fix (a solution echoed by the Genius that I spoke with) may be coming soon!
I actually just visited an Apple Store last week about this issue - mainly to rule out a hardware issue. It's the only thing about my 5s that I'm slightly disappointed with. Even with multiple prints for the same finger (and various other attempted workarounds), my iPhone seems to 'forget' my print over time.
It may just be that my particular prints aren't as readable as others, but I'm very glad that a software fix (a solution echoed by the Genius that I spoke with) may be coming soon!
Ok then, it is not just me who thinks this......I redo my prints every month because it just forgets!
Describes my situation very well. I do find that drying the hands out usually gets things working again. I have a sneaking suspicion that this "patch" we're promised for the "fading" is really going to be a command for the Touch ID to be less discriminating or to somehow account for wet fingers. The thing is that I've tried creating a fingerprint profile when they are wet as well as dry and they just don't take when wet. Again, probably something that more tinkering with the tech will solve over time. All in all, Touch ID is still an exciting and useful feature that I love.
I have the same issue here in Canada but not that frequent. It works, but because my hands get so dry (we hover around 25-35C) that it works about 60-70% of the time. I usually just try to switch to another registered digit.
Add my voice to those above who've had problems with TouchID. I really was excited about this feature when I bought the phone. Now, I nearly always have to type my passcode instead. The issue gets better if I resent and put in prints again, and if I code more than once for a print. Interestingly, you can "Overtrain" and see which finger it's recognizing, it will pick only one even if you have two sets for the same finger, so you can find out which one has stopped working.
Thank you, Apple! I had resigned myself to the idea that Apple didn't care about this issue because it wasn't generating media buzz, and have just been using the passcode again. I'm glad to be wrong. Why it's taken months to fix is another question, but I guess it's been a hard problem to solve.
Well, there's several threads and hundreds of responses, and I finally gave up returning iPhones after my third 5s. Apple was sending them all back to HQ, so I guess they were aware of the issue and it the problem was more than a statistical blip.
My best about this still is that, with certain types of fingerprints, the "learning" mode that tries to improve fingerprint recognition over time actually ends up corrupting the fingerprint data or saving junk data that causes the accuracy to plummet. This is the only explanation I can think of for why it starts out with high accuracy and within a few hours to a couple days the print is unreadable.
Well, there's several threads and hundreds of responses, and I finally gave up returning iPhones after my third 5s. Apple was sending them all back to HQ, so I guess they were aware of the issue and it the problem was more than a statistical blip.
My best about this still is that, with certain types of fingerprints, the "learning" mode that tries to improve fingerprint recognition over time actually ends up corrupting the fingerprint data or saving junk data that causes the accuracy to plummet. This is the only explanation I can think of for why it starts out with high accuracy and within a few hours to a couple days the print is unreadable.
"Several threads with hundreds of responses" equates to less than a statistically relevant sample. I know there are people here that have complained ad naseum about it. Just wondered how many Apple users this issue ACTUALLY affects - especially being a software bug....
Usually the hardware stuff is limited to a (very vocal) few - relative to the vast number of iPhone users. But with software, it would seem some corrupt code or bug would affect nearly everyone? Unless there is something specific that triggers it.
Just curiosity is all.
Hint: Quick fix before update
In read in last months MW, a hint to fix this, and it's worked perfectly for me. 95% first try, never more than 2 tries.
The trick was to do a digit, and then make another profile with a slight rotation. I mean very small. I almost abandoned the touch ID. Now I am sold.
In read in last months MW, a hint to fix this, and it's worked perfectly for me. 95% first try, never more than 2 tries.
The trick was to do a digit, and then make another profile with a slight rotation. I mean very small. I almost abandoned the touch ID. Now I am sold.
I think you mis-parsed my sentence -- my statement about it not being a statistically relevant blip was tied to the clause about Apple shipping all my returned 5s's back to Cupertino for testing. But moreso I'm just saying, well, it was enough of an issue with returned stock for them to investigate it.
The "something specific" that would trigger the bug/corruption has to be a certain kind of fingerprint, at least that's what I hypothesize, as it happens with certain people, not with certain phones.
That's plausible. I agree it must be tied to the algorithm and a bug there.
I'm hoping the "fix coming soon" is coming in 7.1 and that we see it in the next two weeks.
Wow I hadn't realized this was a widespread issue. Its happened to me but I figured it was probably because my skin was dry from the winter. Glad a fix is on the way.
This is what happens when I use Touch ID, doesn't work, try again doesn't work. Clean it, try again, doesn't work. Takes me to enter my password. If this happened once every 10 times, ok I understand, new tech, not there yet. But it works 1 of every 10 times.
I wouldn't call that 'a more enjoyable smartphone experience.' Which is why I'm criticizing it and siri. Because they aren't faster because most of the time they don't function as intended and you end up going back to the traditional way, which is what they exist for. They just don't do their job well enough.
Apple Readying Fix for Issues with Touch ID Fading
This isn't normal. You either have a faulty device or are suffering from the "fade" bug. But that bug would've happened over time - so it would've needed to work at one point.
If it's always worked 1 out of every 10 times, there's something wrong with your phone. Either that or you don't have fingerprints.
And when was the last time you used Siri? I sent numerous (somewhat lengthy) texts over the course of 20-30 minutes through Siri because I was driving and there were few if any mistakes.
Siri also works plenty well fetching sports scores, setting reminders/calendar events and finding info. Granted it doesn't work 100% of the time. But it's far more than a 50/50 toss up.
Unless of course you work at a construction site and are the jackhammerer....that is to say, there may be extenuating circumstances that cause less than ideal experiences with these features for you that have little to nothing to do with how well the features work under normal conditions.
This isn't normal. You either have a faulty device or are suffering from the "fade" bug. But that bug would've happened over time - so it would've needed to work at one point.
If it's always worked 1 out of every 10 times, there's something wrong with your phone. Either that or you don't have fingerprints.
And when was the last time you used Siri? I sent numerous (somewhat lengthy) texts over the course of 20-30 minutes through Siri because I was driving and there were few if any mistakes.
Siri also works plenty well fetching sports scores, setting reminders/calendar events and finding info. Granted it doesn't work 100% of the time. But it's far more than a 50/50 toss up.
Unless of course you work at a construction site and are the jackhammerer....that is to say, there may be extenuating circumstances that cause less than ideal experiences with these features for you that have little to nothing to do with how well the features work under normal conditions.