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Touch ID doesn't work well at all
- Thread starter xNYMetsx
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My main annoyance with it is how having the least amount of moisture on my thumb makes it so it won't scan. I have had to setup my fingers again a few times also though.
I was having this problem as well. I realized that the home button has to be pretty clean in order to read the finger print. if there are any smudges or oil on the home button the sensor has a hard time reading the print. try wiping it then try again.
I'm finding that I place my thumb on the home button from some widely varying angles. As such, I've done an extra scan. It seems to work very well. Actually better than not having a password at all. I can just click the button, then hold my thumb in place and the phone is open before it's even out of my pocket.
Perhaps over time things will change but so far I have no complaints about Touch ID.
Perhaps over time things will change but so far I have no complaints about Touch ID.
Before you give up: This worked for me . . .
Just something to try on the chance it might help.
It has been WAY better since I changed the way I use the home button. I used to use my thumb at about a 45 degree angle to push the home button. Not exactly the tip, but not the "flat" part either. So I set my scans up for this and had about a 25-30% success rate on first scan. Pretty frustrating.
I erased these scans and rescanned with the more flat part of my thumb. More or less like being fingerprinted. (before you ask, it was for a job interview . . .)
Now I have been having great results for a week. Realistically, I don't expect a phone scanner to be 100% anyway, but just good enough to avoid being frustrated. I have to say, when it works this fingerprint scanner is a nice feature.
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Just something to try on the chance it might help.
It has been WAY better since I changed the way I use the home button. I used to use my thumb at about a 45 degree angle to push the home button. Not exactly the tip, but not the "flat" part either. So I set my scans up for this and had about a 25-30% success rate on first scan. Pretty frustrating.
I erased these scans and rescanned with the more flat part of my thumb. More or less like being fingerprinted. (before you ask, it was for a job interview . . .)
Now I have been having great results for a week. Realistically, I don't expect a phone scanner to be 100% anyway, but just good enough to avoid being frustrated. I have to say, when it works this fingerprint scanner is a nice feature.
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Just tried this, will see if t works.
Same deal here though. Touch if worked great for the first couple weeks then degraded
this. It was touch and go with my right thumb (left thumb was always 100%), but I just made 2 scans / ID's with my right thumb, and now it's near 100%... the only issue I've been having with the Touch ID is that i get multiple resprings a day when unlocking via Touch ID. I've turned this feature off for now until I have a chance to restore my phone with a 7.0.4 ipsw.
Update
Recording the same print twice is working great so far a few hours later.
There have been multiple times I have deletedh right thumb then re-entered it and it works great for an hour or two. Scanning the same right than twice has been rock solid for about 6-8hrs now.
Recording the same print twice is working great so far a few hours later.
There have been multiple times I have deletedh right thumb then re-entered it and it works great for an hour or two. Scanning the same right than twice has been rock solid for about 6-8hrs now.
I think some of these touch id buttons are defective. I had a launch day iphone, and the touch id never work well. The finger sensor seemed to get worse over time. Tried all the tricks and suggestions, but it never was reliable, only worked successfully about 30-40 % of the time. I had hoped the software updates would correct the problem, but no dice.
I took it in for a look, and i was told that i must be software corruption, and to reinstall the OS and to NOT restore from an icloud backup, which I did. Nothing changed, so I took it back. The Genius was great and said that it must be a hardware issue with the phone, and he replaced the phone. The new phone is successful in recognizing my thumbprint at least 95% of the time, which is amazing.
So for those with similar issues, it would probably be a good idea to take it in for a look.
I took it in for a look, and i was told that i must be software corruption, and to reinstall the OS and to NOT restore from an icloud backup, which I did. Nothing changed, so I took it back. The Genius was great and said that it must be a hardware issue with the phone, and he replaced the phone. The new phone is successful in recognizing my thumbprint at least 95% of the time, which is amazing.
So for those with similar issues, it would probably be a good idea to take it in for a look.
My theory is that some get worse over time because they get dirtier over time. The first time I had a problem with it I wiped off the sensor and it worked fine, until it started to get dirty again. I just wipe the sensor with my shirt every so often and it works >99% of the time.
Like the other posters, I have to re-register my prints every 2 weeks or so. It can't be dirt/grime because I wipe mine clean with anti bacterial wipes every day. Touch ID will work great for the first week, slowly deteriorate in week 2 and by week 3 it will fail to read about 50% of the scans. Once I re register it works perfectly again. Maybe the cooler drier air changes the overall dimensions of the ridges and valleys? I'll know for sure by Jan-Mar since the weather will be consistent during that period.
I've completely given up on it and opt for immediate password entry instead of watching Try Again appear several times.
Out of curiosity where are you located? I have a hunch the effectiveness of Touch ID is related to environmental factors
with my 3 week old iPhone 5s;
-registered 4 fingers, actually both thumbs and both index fingers
-I have at least a 95%-97% first success rate with Touch ID
-when I did the touch ID input, I held the phone and did the set-up in exact same position as using to unlock
Both my wife and I really love the Touch ID, its a surprise and delight thing, love to show it to those "other" phone brand owners
-registered 4 fingers, actually both thumbs and both index fingers
-I have at least a 95%-97% first success rate with Touch ID
-when I did the touch ID input, I held the phone and did the set-up in exact same position as using to unlock
Both my wife and I really love the Touch ID, its a surprise and delight thing, love to show it to those "other" phone brand owners
Same here, i even gave it another go after a month yesterday and its the same, works at first then after a while takes a few goes, too frustrating, gone to the trash like siri.
Please see my post above, you may have a defective sensor. You might consider reinstalling the OS to factory settings, after putting the phone in DFU mode. Then DO NOT reinstall from your backup, but instead manually re-install your music, apps, etc. You can of course log in to your iCloud account. Doing this eliminates any software related issues that may be contributing to erratic touch ID behaviors. This is what APPLE suggested to me when I had my phone checked for the same issue.
Make sure to separately back up all of your photos and videos PRIOR to doing the re-install, or they will be lost.
I hope this helps....