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patseguin

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 28, 2003
1,736
538
Not sure if this has been discussed but has anyone had touch id problems with dry skin? When I got the phone it worked flawless but now that it's winter and I game dry skin , I find it doesn't work a lot.
 
Yup, it's pretty normal. Dry hands don't produce good images for the fingerprint/palm print scanners.

Rub your finger on your forehead or nose usually will "wet" the finger enough to produce a good image.
 
Rub your finger on your forehead or nose usually will "wet" the finger enough to produce a good image.

Unless you're sweating, why would your nose or forehead be moist enough to 'wet' your hands? Mines are always dry. :cool:

My hands often get quite dry when out in the cold and I have noticed this as well. I just type in the passcode instead. If you insist on Touch ID, maybe lick your fingertip, wipe it on your clothes and then try? :D
 
Unless you're sweating, why would your nose or forehead be moist enough to 'wet' your hands? Mines are always dry. :cool:

The forehead works best with camera-based (CCD) bionmetric devices. Adding a little oil to the fingerprint makes the pattern show up better. Where I work, the first thing we tell people at an entry gate (when their bio doesn't work), is to rub their finger on their face/forehead.
 
Wet fingers are more of a problem.

Perhaps have two programs for the same finger, one taken in the winter when it's more dry and keep the other program?


Smart Idea. Although I wonder if Apple tested the touch ID under all conditions. since some countries are always cold or hot Most likely they did
 
Same results for me. Went to Beijing and touchID pretty much stopped working due to the dry weather. Using a hand lotion should help.
 
I've got the point were I've turned off Touch ID, it just doesn't work for me as my hands get messed up alot because I work in the building trade & outdoors in Winter.

If you work in an nice warm office environment ect, then i'm guessing it be less of a problem using touch ID as your prints won't suffer the same fate as mine currently do.
 
The forehead works best with camera-based (CCD) bionmetric devices. Adding a little oil to the fingerprint makes the pattern show up better. Where I work, the first thing we tell people at an entry gate (when their bio doesn't work), is to rub their finger on their face/forehead.

Good idea for optical scanners.

Now, the type of sensor used for Touch Id is an RF capacitive type, which sends a signal from the metal ring through your finger to the hundreds of tiny antennas in a grid in the middle circle. (So people should make sure part of their finger is touching that outer ring.)

This type of reader is sensing the ridges underneath the surface layer, which means it should be better with contamination and dry skin than other sensors, but it'll still have limits.

Wet fingers are more of a problem.

This is true. The reason is because most RF sensors are only expecting the capacitive signal sent through the finger and out the ridges and valleys of the fingerrprint.

When the finger is wet, an additional conductive signal takes a shortcut across the finger's surface and thus interferes with the readings.

(Some RF sensors watch for the two different signal phases and can remove the conductive part of the signal. Apparently not in this case, though.)

Perhaps have two programs for the same finger, one taken in the winter when it's more dry and keep the other program?

Good idea. I suggest simulating that, by entering the same finger multiple times of the day under varying environmental conditions.

Smart Idea. Although I wonder if Apple tested the touch ID under all conditions. since some countries are always cold or hot Most likely they did

It's the result of a device designed in California weather :)

Reminds me of how automobiles designed in England have great heat for the cold of England, but their A/C is usually terrible.

Likewise, any kind of capacitive sensor... touchscreen or fingerprint... makes sense in a warm and steady climate, but can be a pain to use in cold regions.
 
My skin is dry and TouchID fails a lot in this weather. It almost makes me feel like disabling TouchID.
 
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