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iPhone 6 Touch ID is useless

I had the same problem. I took it back to apple and they gave me a new phone. Touch ID now works perfectly.
 
@MyDataMyProbs
MyDataMyProbs said:
this is going to sound weird but do you bite your nails?


my friend said his Touch ID was useless and come to find out (after like 3 months of research) it was because he would bite his nails and take a layer of skin off the tip of his thumb and other fingers. if you bite off that skin or calis (sp) it'll mess with your Touch ID

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also any kind of liquid messes it up. grease, oils, water, etc
Click to expand...




I know exactly what you are talking about if your nail biting stretches outward to the skin on your fingers. I am a pretty bad nail biter and I bite the skin off my finger tips sometimes. When I got my iPhone 6 my fingers were perfect as I had not bitten in about 4 months. School started getting pretty intense and I fell back into my old habit. I noticed that my Touch ID stopped working. I re registered my fingers and it solved the issue. For about 1 day. As my skin started growing back it stopped working again. It is quite annoying because the Touch ID is one of my favorite parts of the phone. I realized that there is a point where I stop biting my skin, and I just registered the prints right below it. Although the prints are at the center of my finger tips, it still works just fine. Now it is flawless again!
 
Better thread title: "My iPhone 6 Touch ID doesn't work". Because apparently, it works perfectly for nearly everyone, including myself.
 
@fiveainone

That title is pointless and makes zero sense. Apparently your not very good at reading comprehension because I was merely giving nail biters a fix. Thanks for your input. Although i don't appreciate the senseless sarcasm.
 
I'm sorry you're having troubles OP. I'm having no problems whatsoever with the Touch ID on my iPhone 6. I am extremely happy with it. (So dreadfully tired of having to type in a complex password a bazillion times a day.)
 
The problems one experiences with Touch ID are relatively normal and a characteristic that's hard to overcome. Not as simple and easy as Apple makes it out to be, fingerprint readers in general no matter what your fingers or skin type is, are typically rather inconsistent.

I don't use Touch ID mainly because I'm used to creating complex secure passwords that I change frequently.
 
jekjones1558 said:
OP, I posted another thread about this same problem. I did 2 things that were suggested and I have had a lot better luck with Touch ID: 1). I used my right index finger to capture fingerprint for all 5 of the allowed fingerprints. 2). I use lots of handcream and I have been keeping the home button wiped off. I will also replace my screen protector when I finally get home tomorrow. My current screen protector is not on quite straight near the home button.
Like you I am reluctant to exchange hardware if I can avoid it, so you might want to try these strategies also. I am having much better luck with Touch ID already.
Click to expand...

why dont you just get a replacement.....
 
I actually had a problem with my 6. I would clean the home button wash my hands frequently and still wouldnt never read my finger print , weird. I exchanged it for a 6 + not because of that issue , just because I had buyers remorse and wanted the 6 + instead and ended up with the 6 + long story short , havent had any issues with this device . It reads my finger print 100% every time now , I would definitely take it to the Apple Store to have it checked out .
Good luck .
 
I think the OP might have a fault and by now I am sure it has been fixed as its getting on for 2 months. Mine has always worked fine and so has my wife's. I haven't had any friends complain of this issue either so it possibly uncommon.
 
iososx said:
Not as simple and easy as Apple makes it out to be,
...
I don't use Touch ID mainly because I'm used to creating complex secure passwords that I change frequently.
Click to expand...

I find it interesting that most of the critics of TouchID seem to be the people who don't use it and/or don't understand the point of it.

As varied as the human population is, I'm sure there are individuals for whom it doesn't work well for whatever reason. In my experience it's been rock solid, with the only occasional issues being my own inattention. It's not TouchID's fault when I barely have my thumb edge on the pad. :)

Also, the point of TouchID is not to be more secure than a passcode. It's to allow having a passcode easier on the user. Security across the population of users is enhanced when more people use passcodes (and some move from a simple to complex because it's no longer so cumbersome)

A behavior change that makes TouchID even easier is to get away from waking the phone with the sleep/wake button with the hand holding the phone and authenticating with the other hand. MUCH smoother to click-and-release the home button with the thumb of the hand holding the phone, letting my thumb rest on the home button for the half a second it takes for TouchID to read it. Works 100% of the time that I don't screw it up myself.
 
I was very skeptical about Touch ID at first but I have to say it works absolutely flawlessly on my iPhone6. Never had a problem with it so far. It is quite weird when I have on non-Touch ID iPhone in my hand now, because instinctively I put my finger on the home button and nothing happens. Old Tech lol.
 
BeamWalker said:
I was very skeptical about Touch ID at first but I have to say it works absolutely flawlessly on my iPhone6. Never had a problem with it so far. It is quite weird when I have on non-Touch ID iPhone in my hand now, because instinctively I put my finger on the home button and nothing happens. Old Tech lol.
Click to expand...

Yea really, this is exactly my story. I thought I'd keep doing the passcode thing with my 6 but the desire to check my phone at night without typing it convinced me. :D
 
Happy with my Touch ID here. >95% success on first touch. Only failed when I placed too small portion of my finger on the button, or when my finger is wet.
 
I use TouchID for Apple Pay, and that is about it. I don't like using it for phone access because it doesn't give you the grace period like a passcode does. I.e. with passcode you can give a 15 min period where you can unlock, with TouchID you have to use it every single time, annoying.
 
iososx said:
You're assumptions are inane, counterfactual, yet rather amusing... :)
Click to expand...

Would it be safe to assume that you meant to write "your observations" instead of the quoted text, since that would then allow your response to make sense? Or would that assumption be counterfactual as well? :D

In any event, I'm glad I am able to amuse. I was merely stating my observation, thus the qualifiers, and it's entirely possible you are not one whom I was referring to. ;)
 
TouchID worked perfectly about 95% of the time on my 5s. I've has a 6 was about a week now, and it has not yet failed to recognize any finger I've programmed in.
 
Some folks have weak fingerprints, my wife among them. She had to be fingerprinted for employment a few years ago and had to re-try multiple times to get a decent print. The technician was very annoyed with her. Her iPhone 6+ doesn't like her prints either.
 
I had my iPhone 6 replaced today because of the inconsistent TouchID. My old phone would work perfectly sometimes and times where it would not want to work.

I almost want to say there is a difference in the actual TouchID button material, my old iPhone 6 button felt more plastic and looked dull whereas my new phone's TouchID button feels like actual sapphire just like my iPhone 5S.
 
Mine almost never misses and I use constantly. I love that it can be used for purchases and for 1Password, etc.

I don't call that useless.
 
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