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Touch ID being Erratic

Wife and I got iPhone 5s units at the same time. She has had hit and miss success with touch ID. I am golden with mine, and also hers when I put a finger into her phone data. She is frustrated, and will delete fingerprints and resestablish on her phone. Her finger scan will work for a few times, and then it gets to be like it doesn't recognize her finger (left thumb or right thumb). Is anybody else having some issues like this?

iPhone 5s, iOS 7.0.2

Posted on Oct 1, 2013 8:43 PM

Reply
1,114 replies

Nov 25, 2013 7:41 AM in response to mrsnork

mrsnork wrote:


I've been having intermittent failures all morning. After the last one, in frustration I mashed the button down until Siri activated. After that Touch ID worked again. Not sure if I might be getting a hardware failure now on top of everything else, or if activating Siri just "woke up" Touch ID.


Nah, it just saw you meant business...

Nov 25, 2013 12:47 PM in response to Dreanmachine1

Add one more.... I am having the same issue. I registered prints according to apple support thread, making contact with metal ring, not using finger tips, getting good scans. Touch ID worked amazingly well for about a day then it just seems to forget my fingerprints. It's almost like a fading memory... It worked 100% of the time at first then the next day about 50% then all the way down to 1% or less over the course of a week.

Programs running or not or the quantity seem to make no difference.

Turning it off at night or just a reboot has no effect.

I have not gone to the Apple store yet to get support.

If I find anything that works for me, I'll post it.


Cellular carrier should not make a difference but curious if this issue is happening across all carriers. There has to be a common link among all of us or our devices.


iPhone 5s iOS 7.0.4 Verizon.

Nov 25, 2013 2:24 PM in response to Dreanmachine1

Dreanmachine1 wrote:


iOS 7.0.4 with Sprint. Question? Is there anybody having these problems that doesn't have an external screen protector (i.e. naked front). Just curious.

Not sure why the carrier would matter, although there would be different radio chips.


I'll give you the inverse of your Q. Two on Verizon, 1 with, 1 without a screen protector, both with Apple leather cases. One (mine) on 7.0.4, the other on 7.0.2. *Neither have a TID issue* except for the (so far) Twitter glitch on mine. Twitter not used on the other.


Was thinking of trying to force the iTunes Store problem, but wasn't sure what triggered it. You were trying to purchase a gift card (Send Gift) I think?

Nov 25, 2013 2:36 PM in response to Joe_Fo

It is now working (that is, I was able to purchase an iTunes gift card this morning finally). They did a reset on their end with something in regards to my account on Saturday. It was on their end, but something caused a crash of the iPhone App Store app on my end. Have no clue how and what process triggered it. Wouldn't even begin to direct you. There were many attempts to get the iTunes gift card to take on both my iOS devices (iiPhone 5s and iPad Air). The Air never had any app crash. So, I wouldn't waste any time.


I finally got tired of waiting for TID to come back on its own (after almost two days, it was still failing). So I deleted prints and re-registered all three fingers. The sad thing for me now is that I had pretty good success for a hand ful of attempts, and now my right thumb is failing two out of three times. The other two fingers are still doing ok. This is a blasted mess. HELP!!!!!

Nov 25, 2013 3:33 PM in response to eycher

eycher wrote:


I still can't get a straight answer 🙂 When it doesn't work for you did you try properly cleaning the sensor or not? I am not interested in when it works, only when it doesn't.


I just tried it again, and it still doesn't work. But I think it worked twice out of maybe a dozen attempts. That's why I was curious of how it's done when someone has success with it.


I never can see anything on my touch id, even when reflecting light off it. And I carry it in my pocket all the time, with no case, (or screen protector), so expect it to be in pristine condition.


The only thing I could think that would get on it would be what ever invisible stuff is on my finger tips when I go to use it. I suspect it's not the issue with me, but I also wonder if something woke up when I abused it those 2 times.

Nov 26, 2013 7:27 AM in response to Dreanmachine1

I'll jump on this list too. I register my prints fine and the work perfectly for a couple days and then I find the recogination of the print seems to fade over time. Like it's forgetting the print. I delete and rescan prints and it works like a charm for a few days and then back to being sporadic. I'm going to registered the tip of my nose and see if that solves the problem.

Nov 26, 2013 7:49 AM in response to RogerGB

I have to agree with your suggested reason for why there aren't more calls to Apple support on this issue. Also when a feature (especially a new one like Touch ID) comes along and users find it working *inconsistently*, many will assume it's something they are doing wrong. If it failed 100% of the time it would be easy to convince Apple there was a software or hardware issue. The 'works fine for a day or so and then fails' makes me hesitant to report it to Apple. I know they'll call it user error - especially because they won't be able to recreate the problem while I stand there!!

Nov 26, 2013 8:05 AM in response to Annie1951

I guarantee that the only reason to visit an Apple Genius Bar at a local store will be to have a replacement iPhone 5s given. There will be none that can solve this problem as they are not trained in such. As you suggest, there will be registration exercises while you are in their presence. Will work like a champ and then they will trust you are having issues and most likely arrange for a new iPhone immediately. I have been through all cycles with them, and no more visits for me with our two new replacement phones eventually behaving like our first two phones. Just gonna accept the flaws, not lose too much sleep over it, and let the software bug process work itself through. Even wlih the best finger registration techniques, patience will be required until Apple works the magic. Gonna take time unfortunately. For 25 to 30 percent of us, we will have to sit tight.

Touch ID being Erratic

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