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I've had my 5s since launch day, and the Touch ID hasn't failed once. It's worked every single time. I was actually surprised about how well it works.
 
Some additional thoughts. A part of me wonders how much of this is related to technique.

Before, I've been hitting the home button, and after the thumb is off, then putting the thumb back on to unlock the phone.

Now, I've tried hitting the home button, and letting the thumb rest there (but not continuing to push, otherwise Siri gets activated). This seems to work better.

One of the only drawbacks of Touch ID that I have noticed is I never see my lock screen notifications anymore. I click the home button and forget to move my finger and the phone unlocks a split second later.

I did have trouble setting up my fingerprint originally. It would register the first part fine, but the "edge" never did take. I eventually registered the same finger twice starting with the middle of my finger on the first scan and then starting with the edge of my finger on the first part of the scan the second time. maybe give that a try.
 
Works fairly consistent for me. I get the occasional fail, but I'd say it's about 97% pass 3% fail.

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One of the only drawbacks of Touch ID that I have noticed is I never see my lock screen notifications anymore. I click the home button and forget to move my finger and the phone unlocks a split second later.

Yeah, started noticing this myself. I may start using Notification Center now. Hahaha
 
Working wonderfully for me. I haven't been keeping a count but using my new phone A LOT since I got it release day and I'd say its worked 99% of the time.

3 different fingers added.
 
OP, first time I set mine up i was very careful not to move my finger around too much during the scan, but the second time around I just made sure that the whole print was scanned in from all the angles and now it works even when I use just the tip or sides of my fingertip. My advice would be to re-scan your prints and make sure you move them around to cover the whole fingertip.
 
Anyone else having problems with Touch ID on their 5s being kind of flaky? It seems to work well after the initial set up, but the following morning, it seems to have already have some amnesia for fingerprint. At times, it takes several tries for it to recognize, but then I ended up erasing the fingerprint and starting from scratch.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

Nope. It's working flawlessly for me. There was only one time when it didn't work and that was because I used the wrong finger!

My only advice is to start over but you've already done that.
 
Anyone else having problems with Touch ID on their 5s being kind of flaky?

Anyone else have a similar experience?
Yes.

While I chose not to give up my stellar iPhone 5 for a 5S that I don't care about, several of my friends did buy the 5S.

The complaint you have is common. Apples pretty good about patching problems in due time. Be patient, it will all work out.
 
I had one failure and that was yesterday morning, the temp had dropped here and I was walking to Starbucks, when my hands were freezing, it didn't work.

Otherwise, it's been great!
 
This is going to sound strange... but for those of you having issues with the Finger Print Scanner, Try this.

Mix 1/4 cup Sugar with some Olive Oil... use it on your hands as a Sugar Scrub to exfoliate your finger tips/hands.. don't wash it off right away.. wait maybe 2-5 minutes, then use soap and wash the Sugar Scrub off and try setting up the Touch ID again....

Maybe your fingers have too much dead skin for the reader to "learn" what it needs to learn?

Worth a try...lol
 
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It has worked fine for me during the past (first) week with the 5S. And I use it many many times daily.
 
I had to do my setup again, since that it was fine. I had issues with the corners of my fingers. now I seldom have issues.
 
Anyone else having problems with Touch ID on their 5s being kind of flaky? It seems to work well after the initial set up, but the following morning, it seems to have already have some amnesia for fingerprint. At times, it takes several tries for it to recognize, but then I ended up erasing the fingerprint and starting from scratch.

Yes, it's extremely disappointing. Doesn't live up to Apple's history of "just works" products. I have one finger that unlocks about 20% of the time, but only if I hold it one certain way. One of my thumbs is about 10%, again if I hold it one certain way. The other thumb has close to 0% success rate.

I've registered my fingers over and over several times, trying all different types of methods for the scanning process. As in your case, it always starts out after registering fingers with 90-100% accuracy , then some time later it barely works. After I read that it "learns" your fingers I stopped resetting them, but it's been half a day and if anything it's gotten worse. I'd say it's hard for it to learn anything when it fails all five TouchID scans before going to lockout mode.
 
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My touch ID was terrible. Tried re-doing the fingerprints many times. Got to the point where it just drove me nuts. Would fail almost ever time. Had to concentrate on where my finger was to get it to work and if I just washed my hands it would fail because they were too wet or too dry. Finger needs a little oil on them to work. This problem along with the IOS 7 problems, the small screen and the accelerometer not working I gave up and returned it. Can't believe I even bought one. Thought it would be better than my S4 but no way. S4 is perfect.
 
I have the exact same problem. It worked 100% right after training it, but an hour or two later, the failure rate was like 50%.

I think that's just a change in your finger surface over time. If you have smooth fingers it seems to work perfectly.

It's working well for me now, I just had to retrain it a bunch of times. Make sure to keep moving your finger in training; don't just leave it in the same spot. Then keep locking and unlocking your phone with your finger so it starts learning all the variations. It will get better over time, but it's frustrating as hell. :)
 
No problems here after the first week. It recognizes my 2 thumbs and one of my index fingers just fine. It never fails and is very fast.
 
One of the only drawbacks of Touch ID that I have noticed is I never see my lock screen notifications anymore. I click the home button and forget to move my finger and the phone unlocks a split second later.

I have this happen to me occasionally but overall I am very happy with my Touch ID experience so far.
 
Mine worked well at first, but then after a few days it would tell me to "try again". Twice it happened while I was walking so I thought the fact that my body was in motion and that prevented my finger from making good contact. But as the days progressed, I had more incidents of this happening in "normal" situations. It seemed as though the scanner liked my finger in a flat position rather than an angled position. I don't know whether it's me or the phone. For the time being, I have disabled the scanner to see how I like it. I'm sure eventually I'll try again.
 
I have this happen to me occasionally but overall I am very happy with my Touch ID experience so far.

Dont get me wrong. I would gladly have this be the case over inputing my passcode 100 times a day. SOOOOO much better.
 
I used mine earlier today after just washing my hands (actually, just showered). I expected it to fail but it worked perfectly.

I'm curious, those of you that fail all the time, do you have major calluses?
 
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