It all depends on the person, but I have had similar issues. It's still mostly accurate.
Last edited:
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone XR XR to 8+ back to XR
- Thread starter Mackinjosh
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It all depends on the person, but I have had similar issues. It's still mostly accurate.
Yes touch id is very accurate as long as you do nothing with your hands. I have had iphone 6, iphone 7, iphone 8 all with touch id. As long as I don't do any actual activity or work just normal life including showering touch id works great. Any actual get off your butt activity using your hands touch id fails. Go stack a cord of wood without gloves and try touch id.
Simple the country is cold and wet, your fingers are not. Almost guaranty no touch recognition with wet finger for many
Yeah no one can argue the point of wet hands and Touch ID working properly. It just doesn’t and we’ve had to work around it till Face ID. Face ID has made using my phone so much easier because my hands are often wet or moist. Even grabbing a bottled or can drink out of an ice chest or condensation on your fingers can mean Touch ID won’t work.
No you’re misunderstanding, I don’t use my phone with dirty or wet hands. I’ve never had a need for that and if I have had to unlock my phone in the rain then I’ve managed to dry my finger. It’s never been an issue here.
There will always been the odd occasion the phone won’t open and that applies to FaceID too.
It’s funny that if you wet your finger in your mouth it doesn’t stop you unlocking your phone though. I just tried it with three of my fingers and being wet didn’t create an issue. Perhaps it’s only non-UK rain water?
Reference the bolded, I like your example here. And that is true. I would say 99% of the time, touch ID has never been an issue for me, but there are a few times where it’s not perfect, but the same argument could be made for Face ID as well. Even though Face ID is very good, certain angles and when laying down, it’s not accurate and it requires a passcode. Both biometric securities have inadequacies.
Only time I have had an issue with the newer Face ID is if I have sunglasses and a hoodie on, which in the winter is going to be quite often, but touch ID isn't any better in those situations because I also have gloves on.
I'd really love to find a faster way to get to the home screen with Face ID. I got the XR for my daughter and then of course she decides she didn't want it. I gave her my 8+ so now I'm on the XR again.
With my 8+, I could just lay my thumb on the home button, not even press it, and it would unlock and go straight to the home screen. Much faster than any Face ID combo I've found and only one "action" too. Not pick up, tap, look at the screen, and then swipe.
With my 8+, I could just lay my thumb on the home button, not even press it, and it would unlock and go straight to the home screen. Much faster than any Face ID combo I've found and only one "action" too. Not pick up, tap, look at the screen, and then swipe.
Unlocking my devices is something I place huge importance on. Face ID, whilst not quite as quick as Touch ID in a direct comparison, it’s a time saver overall, as it’s a more seemless procedure, when you move from your initial unlock to account unlocks during use.
The iPad Pro’s Face ID takes it to another level, speed & convenience wise.
It’s something you need to use for a couple of weeks to appreciate imo.
The “tap” part usually is unnecessarry as the Xr wakes up the screen when it detects it’s been picked up. I say “usually” because it does depend on what position it’s in before picking up, but in about 90% of the cases I’ve experienced, it wakes up the screen automatically. But even tapping for the other 10% really is no big deal as I usually have the phone in my hand anyway and will need to swipe up shortly after.
“Look at the screen”, why would you pick up your phone and want to unlock it if you don’t look at the screen?
So that leaves a single swiping up action, which is as easy, if not easier, than resting your finger on the TouchID sensor.
Based on what I said above, I actually find FaceID faster and simpler than unlocking with TouchID. FaceID almost always recognizes me before I swipe up. I’m saying all this as a TouchID fan for the last 4+ years. Nothing wrong with TouchID, except the whole wet finger thing, I just found FaceID very seamless in the last couple weeks I’ve used it as a primary phone.
The exception is if I want to unlock without picking up the phone, which is a corner case for me, and I suspect, in general.
I’m at least 2 years away from owning an Apple device with FaceID but it’s not something I’m concerned about. The 0.4 seconds is fine for now. I only replaced my iPad last year so it’ll be another 3 years before I upgrade that. It’s only an armchair browser for me after all. My 8+ won’t be upgraded now until Sept 2020 when my contract ends. It doesn’t feel like a slow dinosaur to me and feels every bit as fast as current iPhones IMO. FaceID will no doubt be on my next iPhone though and I guess it’ll be as insignificant to me as TouchID is now.
Thanks for the comments and tips. With all of my previous Touch ID phones, I can have them laying on my desk or table face up and easily unlock it without picking up or needing my face in its field of view. Face ID forces you to lean over or pick it up.
I waited until the XR came out to try in store as I was struggling to choose between that and an 8+ ( I was coming from a 6Plus). In the end the narrow screen was too cramped for my liking. The Plus size and dimensions are so comfortable for me ( I have bigish hands). Also I have the notch and the curved edges. Apple don't even utilise the extra screen real estate very well yet. So I settled for an 8 Plus and have loved it ever since. I love the dual lens which was a big upgrade for me. ( The 3D Photos in Facebook are great fun) I also love the True Tone display. No regrets for me.
Nah, I am not buying it! I live in southern part of the US and I can tell you Touch ID is the biggest pain in the ass with high humidity and sweat. You go for run and your hand has a little sweat, forget it. You sit outside for any length of time and your hand becomes sweaty.. forget it. I got to he gym a few times a week and even in the AC when I get extra sweaty from a hardy work-out I can't unlock my phone. Not to mention grabbing a good cold beer from the ice chest. Hell I've often thought my hands were dry enough that it should unlock, but doesn't. So.... you're experience simply doesn't not even remotely match mine.
No issues with Face ID even if I am drunk as hell and my face looks weird, this baby unlocks! Who knows maybe I added a secondary scan while I was drunk one night! LOL
[doublepost=1542673649][/doublepost]
No I don't think it depends on the person... a wet finger is a wet finger and Touch ID does not read properly if you have wet, moist or lotion on your fingers... I just doesn't! I agree if your hands are dry and clean... it works perfectly 99.9% of the time!!
Last edited:
It depends just in general...some people have skin conditions like Drew from Tailosive Tech, and Touch ID doesn't work at all.
Face ID has been a lot worse than Touch ID for me here the past couple of days, and I've already taken an alternate appearance.
It doesn’t matter if our experiences are the same or not but I was just stating I don’t have a major issue with unlocking my phone in damp conditions. C’est la vie.
Face ID definitely has its drawbacks, what I would like to see improve, is if Apple can re-engineer how the sensors can have a wider spectrum of the users face at different angles. I’m not sure if that’s possible or not, but that’s the most problematic part is unlocking when the user is in different positions rather that be laying down, leaning, or holding the phone in the various angles. But that may always be a drawback to face ID.