5S Touch ID reliability

[iEd]

Mister Sir, I started thinking about your post. I think I have found the problem. The Touch ID worked fine last night before I went to bed. This AM it didn't work. As the day goes on I drink a lot of water. I think what is happening is that my fingers will get "fatter" during the day. At night I loose that excess water and now my fingers are "skinny". I would not have thought that this would change the finger print enough to cause a problem. But I guess the Touch ID sensor is so sensitive that it will affect the scan of my finger prints. The reason it works for a day or 2 is that I think I am trying to unlock the phone at around the times that my fingers are effectively the same "size" as when I store the print.

Thanks for all comments.

I don't know about this one.


#Naked Tuesday

 

[Nolander07]

Mine works perfectly. My 9 year old son even set himself with one of his fingers. It seems to work perfectly for him as well, although he only uses the touch ID once in a while because it is cool, he basically never uses my phone except to unlock it. The point is, I would suspect faulty hardware based on my experience.

 

[Nolander07]

My kids who don't have TouchId entries, like to take my phone and make the TouchId fail enough times in a row that I have to use my long complicated pass code.

That's funny.

 

[JSHidaka]

Mister Sir, I started thinking about your post. I think I have found the problem. The Touch ID worked fine last night before I went to bed. This AM it didn't work. As the day goes on I drink a lot of water. I think what is happening is that my fingers will get "fatter" during the day. At night I loose that excess water and now my fingers are "skinny". I would not have thought that this would change the finger print enough to cause a problem. But I guess the Touch ID sensor is so sensitive that it will affect the scan of my finger prints. The reason it works for a day or 2 is that I think I am trying to unlock the phone at around the times that my fingers are effectively the same "size" as when I store the print.

Thanks for all comments.

Hmmm not sure if registering the same finger works w/o issues, but you could try just registering same finger twice, one when is "normal" and the second when is "fatter" guess have nothing to lose...

 

[Sekelani Zwambila]

I really like the Touch-ID on my 5s BUT lately I have found that it is not working reliably. It seems that I have to reprogram my Touch ID prints about every 2 - 3 days. It'll work for about 1 - 2 days then I have to re-program 1 or both finger prints. Anyone else having problems? Maybe when I'm at my Apple store on Friday to pickup the new iPad Air I'll mention this problem to the geniuses.

Have you tried restoring your device or making sure your fingers are dry? the touch ID doesn't work with wet or dirty fingers... i hope this helps

 

[kal-el of the house of el]

The touch ID doesn't care much about wet, dry, bloated, or any other condition of your fingers. If you have to keep reprogramming it or it isn't working, take it into the Geniuses.

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

Just some advice: if any of you have wet fingers, you really shouldn't be touching your home button at all. Touch ID or not.

 

[mikells43]

I am having the same issues as the op mentioned. It SUCKS and is very frustrating.

 

[nr2d]

Did that last week. Still having to reprogram every other day or 2. I reprogramed the 2 fingers, thumb and index, I use and this morning thumb is not working and my index finger takes at least 2
trys. I guess I'll head over to the Apple store today.

 

[richv77]

I am noticing the same thing but I have only rescanned once so far. I even added a second scan of my left thumb. I would say I have to try two or three times sometimes. Usually I just enter the code.

-Rich

I really like the Touch-ID on my 5s BUT lately I have found that it is not working reliably. It seems that I have to reprogram my Touch ID prints about every 2 - 3 days. It'll work for about 1 - 2 days then I have to re-program 1 or both finger prints. Anyone else having problems? Maybe when I'm at my Apple store on Friday to pickup the new iPad Air I'll mention this problem to the geniuses.

 

[jsntrenkler]

I very recently discovered that you do not push the home button down to unlock. Works better if you just rest your finger on the sensor

 

[iEd]

Resting my thumb on the home button has always given me very consistent results. Pressing the home button not so much.
I'm curious to know how 5s users that have a problem with Touch ID are manipulating the home button to unlock.


#Naked Tuesday

 

[dalaen]

When the iPhone 5s was out, I remember people deactivating Siri on the lock screen because Touch ID was too fast anyway. But I've seen that Apple introduced a delay if you're pushing the button, especially to see if you're requesting Siri's services. Upon pushing the button, Siri will have priority to unlocking.

This is why, I guess, some people notice lags or unreliability when they push their home button to unlock.
To unlock, I push the home button once to wake up the screen, then just rest my finger on the button, and it always works like a charm.

Anyway, remember before Touch ID, if you asked Siri something requiring permission, it asked you to unlock your device.
Now, it scans your finger at the same time as you're pushing the button.

 

[mikells43]

iPhone 5S Touch ID - YouTube

this solved my problem.

 

[Sekelani Zwambila]

Mine works 95% of the time. Just wipe your fingers and the touch ID. that helps me.

 

[wamsille]

Proud new owner if a Lifeproof Case (5S with Touch ID edition) and I can report no problems with recognition.

 

[BBooDad]

that is exactly what is happening with mine - works for a day or so, then worsens, till doesn't work, has to be reprogrammed every few days. I took mine back to the Verizon (phone company) store I got it, and they wiped it and restored it. No better. Today they ordered me a new one, which will hopefully fix the problem.

Is there anyone out there who got a new one, and saw improvement?

 

[chezm]

Touch id works 99% of the time, even when my fingers are dirty...amazingly implemented

 

[anon6040766]

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/12/touch-id-issues-and-fixes/

While the article title may not truly reflect the content within. You may find the article helpful in understanding the technology better. Some blame is placed on user error for what it's worth. For example, if you get a bad print read during initial setup it won't recognize future reads. Also, oily or wet fingers, etc. Not the best article or source, but somewhat interesting


Sent from my iPhone 5s on VZW from Philly

 

[rayz336]

TouchID works exceptionally well for me, I think the only problem I have with it at the moment is that you're required to enter your password after a reboot.