Touch ID is TERRIBLE on iPhone 6

[Dino F]

So I have had my iPhone 6 since September when it first came out and from memory, Touch ID, worked flawlessly back then (I only use it to unlock my phone).

However, since all the updates of iOS 8 since September, Touch ID is getting progressively worse and worse.

I have 5 - YES 5, prints of my thumb print saved within the Touch ID Settings, however, at least ONCE A DAY, Touch ID FAILS to recognize my print Its bloody frustrating.......

It never used to be like this?!?

I don't have overly sweaty thumbs and my fingers are clean (both when I saved my prints and when I use my phone) yet my iPhone 6 FAILS at least once a day to recognize my thumb print.

RIDICULOUS.

 

[decafjava]

Wow, that sucks, if it helps I have one thumb (my right) which is a bit problematic. But then I suffer from eczema and in winter the thumb gets a patch that blocks the print sometimes. Anyway, I have both thumbs and index fingers recorded-usually my left thumb or right index unlocks my phone with no problem. Could just be that thumb you recorded so maybe try a different finger to unlock?

 

[Zxxv]

I only registered my prints once. Thats all that I needed. Maybe you've confused your iPhone

 

[Newtons Apple]

So I have had my iPhone 6 since September when it first came out and from memory, Touch ID, worked flawlessly back then (I only use it to unlock my phone).

However, since all the updates of iOS 8 since September, Touch ID is getting progressively worse and worse.

I have 5 - YES 5, prints of my thumb print saved within the Touch ID Settings, however, at least ONCE A DAY, Touch ID FAILS to recognize my print Its bloody frustrating.......

It never used to be like this?!?

I don't have overly sweaty thumbs and my fingers are clean (both when I saved my prints and when I use my phone) yet my iPhone 6 FAILS at least once a day to recognize my thumb print.

RIDICULOUS.

Prepare to get "corrected". Mine does not work well enough in my opinion so I do not use it but some here can not stand to hear such a thing.

 

[eric3312]

So I have had my iPhone 6 since September when it first came out and from memory, Touch ID, worked flawlessly back then (I only use it to unlock my phone).

However, since all the updates of iOS 8 since September, Touch ID is getting progressively worse and worse.

I have 5 - YES 5, prints of my thumb print saved within the Touch ID Settings, however, at least ONCE A DAY, Touch ID FAILS to recognize my print Its bloody frustrating.......

It never used to be like this?!?

I don't have overly sweaty thumbs and my fingers are clean (both when I saved my prints and when I use my phone) yet my iPhone 6 FAILS at least once a day to recognize my thumb print.

RIDICULOUS.

I have actually noticed mine is a bit worse as well. Also, one of my fingers is no longer recognized since around the 8.1.2/8.1.3 updates. Had to rescan it.

 

[ron7624]

So I have had my iPhone 6 since September when it first came out and from memory, Touch ID, worked flawlessly back then (I only use it to unlock my phone).

However, since all the updates of iOS 8 since September, Touch ID is getting progressively worse and worse.

I have 5 - YES 5, prints of my thumb print saved within the Touch ID Settings, however, at least ONCE A DAY, Touch ID FAILS to recognize my print Its bloody frustrating.......

It never used to be like this?!?

I don't have overly sweaty thumbs and my fingers are clean (both when I saved my prints and when I use my phone) yet my iPhone 6 FAILS at least once a day to recognize my thumb print.

RIDICULOUS.

Mine was flawless at the onset. It was never bad, but it did start to not recognize my first try or 2. I deleted the profiles and rescanned. It's back to first try now.

 

[jabingla2810]

Hmm, perhaps scanning the same digit 5 times isn't helping.

I have my thumb scanned once, and since september has worked 99% of the time.

Try deleting your thumb print all 5 times, and start again with just one.

 

[MH01]

Maybe its where the tech is at. My iphone 6 is far better than my 5, and better than my note 4.

Nothing is perfect.

 

[firedept]

Mine has never been perfect. But I have never let it bother me either. If it does not work first time, I just try again. I have always put it down to my hands being rough.

 

[Arran]

Hmm, perhaps scanning the same digit 5 times isn't helping.

Yeah, OP might be confusing the recognition software as it tries to figure out which stored print matches. (i.e., all of them)

I have my thumb scanned once, and since september has worked 99% of the time.

About 95% has been my experience since Sept. Scanned both thumbs and both index fingers once and it's worked beautifully. On the odd occasion my thumb isn't recognized (usually if my skin is cracked/abraded after working in the yard or wet after a shower) then a different finger does the trick.

 

[loon3y]

No trouble at all,

i have no idea what you guys are talking about

Had my 5S since release date (which i still use as an international phone), my 6 Since release date, and my iPad Air 2


All of it which works fine, and i love it when I'm eating buffalo wings or something and i can just use my left index finger to unlock my devices.


It works flawlessly, you guys are doing something wrong.

 

[FieldingMellish]

My 6 plus is better than my 5S at holding a print. But I did have to redo prints once already.

One thing to experiment with is how you make the print. I'm thinking that in making a print, you lay the full finger pad in there fully and relaxed. But when you go to use the print, your hands could be holding tension and the position and amount of contact could be different than the way the original print was done. So maybe create the print the way you would when sidetracked.

 

[Dino F]

Hmm, perhaps scanning the same digit 5 times isn't helping.

I have my thumb scanned once, and since September has worked 99% of the time.

Try deleting your thumb print all 5 times, and start again with just one.

....actually - yep perhaps you're correct! I will delete all the prints and then just re-scan the one thumb print! Never thought of that!

I just (wrongly?) assumed that the more prints you give it, from the same finger, the more accurate it would be at recognizing that finger but perhaps, as Arran mentioned above, I have just confused the software with 5 prints from the same finger!!!

 

[MattMJB0188]

Touch ID is terrible on both the 6 and 6 Plus, especially with iOS 8 crippling both devices. Mark my words now, I bet Apple discontinues both the 6/6+ when the 6S series is released later this year. They're just awful phones.

 

[verpeiler]

It's completely fine... never failed for me on my 6, ever (seriously). Either you're doing something wrong or the sensor of your device is defective. I guess it's the latter.

@MattMJB0188: Nice troll attempt... ;E

 

[MattMJB0188]

It's completely fine... never failed for me on my 6, ever (seriously). Either you're doing something wrong or the sensor of your device is defective. I guess it's the latter.

@MattMJB0188: Nice troll attempt... ;E

Not trolling. The 6 series is really that bad. His device is not defective. My mom's iPhone 6 touch id has not worked since she got it.

 

[Ledgem]

....actually - yep perhaps you're correct! I will delete all the prints and then just re-scan the one thumb print! Never thought of that!

I just (wrongly?) assumed that the more prints you give it, from the same finger, the more accurate it would be at recognizing that finger but perhaps, as Arran mentioned above, I have just confused the software with 5 prints from the same finger!!!

This is quite possible. I don't think it's ever been confirmed, but the rumor was that the database would continue to "learn" from failed attempts. That is, if you put your finger down and it didn't authenticate, but then it authenticated on the next try and was a close match, the failed attempt would be recorded. If that's true, then having five similar prints would probably make this algorithm useless.

I have no problems with TouchID, but I set my prints up a bit differently than most people seem to. Rather than lifting my finger up and placing it back down with only minor shifts each time, I intentionally shift my finger around by a fair bit so that almost the entire surface of my finger (including the tip but excluding the upper surface and nail) has been scanned by the sensor. Family members who used to have issues with TouchID no longer have problems after I had them scan their fingers similar to how I did, so I assume it isn't just that my fingers are extremely TouchID-friendly. I'd suggest doing that if your problems persist. If the "learning" algorithm is truly implemented, though, then I'd advise against deleting and setting up the print too often.

Best of luck. It's a wonderful technology; I'd imagine it's quite frustrating when it doesn't work properly.

 

[madgibbon]

Mine is perfect (the same with my Air 2 as well), the only time it doesn't work is just after I've washed my hands and they are still a bit damp.

My last phone was a Galaxy S5, now that finger print scanner was useless. It would always take multiple swipes to recognise my finger print.

 

[MagicBoy]

So I have had my iPhone 6 since September when it first came out and from memory, Touch ID, worked flawlessly back then (I only use it to unlock my phone).

However, since all the updates of iOS 8 since September, Touch ID is getting progressively worse and worse.

I have 5 - YES 5, prints of my thumb print saved within the Touch ID Settings, however, at least ONCE A DAY, Touch ID FAILS to recognize my print Its bloody frustrating.......

It never used to be like this?!?

I don't have overly sweaty thumbs and my fingers are clean (both when I saved my prints and when I use my phone) yet my iPhone 6 FAILS at least once a day to recognize my thumb print.

RIDICULOUS.

You're holding it wrong.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Clean the TouchID button really well. There might be a microscopic grit stuck on it that's interferring. Happened to
me once.

If that isn't the culprit it's most likely a hardware failure and get it swapped out. TouchID can and does fail just like any other hardware in the iPhone.

 

[Rogifan]

Hmm...my iPhone 6 works perfectly. But my 5s did too. I don't even think about it because I never have issues with it.

 

[chrono1081]

So I have had my iPhone 6 since September when it first came out and from memory, Touch ID, worked flawlessly back then (I only use it to unlock my phone).

However, since all the updates of iOS 8 since September, Touch ID is getting progressively worse and worse.

I have 5 - YES 5, prints of my thumb print saved within the Touch ID Settings, however, at least ONCE A DAY, Touch ID FAILS to recognize my print Its bloody frustrating.......

It never used to be like this?!?

I don't have overly sweaty thumbs and my fingers are clean (both when I saved my prints and when I use my phone) yet my iPhone 6 FAILS at least once a day to recognize my thumb print.

RIDICULOUS.

Is it cold where you live? Mine doesn't work when its cold out and my hands are dry. It worked perfectly upon release (when it was still warm out) but now not at all unless my hands are really moisturized then it works great again.

 

[Fzang]

My 6+ button seems to "clog" very easily. If I rub the button with some cloth and clear off the grease (not greasy fingers grease, but the natural grease that your fingers always have) it seems to work again without problems.

It's just very bothersome to clean off the button, and more often than not I end up simply typing the passcode. What's more weird is that it works flawlessly in other TouchID-locked apps. Maybe it's some sort of iOS bug and not a hardware problem per se.

 

[cwwilson]

TouchID has worked a lot better for me on the 6+ than it did on my 5S. One way to get the most use out of it is holding the phone differently when registering prints so that it will work on more angles.

I have three different prints on mine and it has never failed me.

 

[sunking101]

I tried it for a week but then did a clean install to (attempt to) clear other bugs and never bothered with Touch ID again. It worked 'ok' but failed to register my finger a few times. I prefer the surety of a 4 digit PIN, I can open my phone just as quickly and with zero fails.