Touch ID being Erratic

Regarding using cases/screen protectors; FWIW lifeproof has come out with a case for the 5s that covers the TID/home button which they claim allows TID use.

smilleresq wrote:

Regarding using cases/screen protectors; FWIW lifeproof has come out with a case for the 5s that covers the TID/home button which they claim allows TID use.

A month ago maybe in a different thread I posted TID works even through a zip lock bag, back when people were thinking it was a dry skin problem. Try it 🙂

As always, this will only work with a good registrating to begin with.

I also have some problems with touhID. After two weeks of using iPhone, touchID began working from time to time. Also stable work depend on the purity of sensor and fingers. If fingers or sensor are wet or dirty it won’t be recognized. Who has the same problem? And how to fix this?

Same here. Worked perfectly for 2 weeks. Now it's a 50% chance to unlock or work at all.

I thought it happened after 7.0.4 so I installed 7.1 beta. And I'm still having this issue. It feels like the sensor stops reading prints after a while. Sometimes it will work consistently for 2 hours. Tried troubleshooting everything. Frustrating. I really need to know if this is a hardware problem so I can replace it. No damage whatsoever

In my case the problem is solved with the help of registration of one and the same finger three times

How long has it been since you registered the 3 fingers? I tried doing the same thing, it worked for a little longer but failed within a week.

Been two days

Since the iOS 7.1 beta does not address this, I suggest we all ask Apple for an enhancement at http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html . Maybe if everyone here does the same thing, we can get a faster response. Feel free to copy and paste. I just submitted this:

Subject: Touch ID Fails after a short time

Touch ID works great initially, but fails completely for me after a few hours.

It seems to me that it fails because my prints change a little bit, and thinking they’re normal, the software adds them to the existing print. Over time, this actually degrades the existing print, until it no longer works. I suggest that you change the software as follows:

1 change the enrollment procedure to allow as many scans as I want to do

2 allow me to go back and add to an enrollment at any time

3 provide a “disable” switch in the touch id settings to disable the automatic modification of a stored print by the software

I would be willing to test these ideas, if you want.

I've tried to do this. It helps for some time and problem appears again.

paulfromhere wrote:

Since the iOS 7.1 beta does not address this, I suggest we all ask Apple for an enhancement at http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html . Maybe if everyone here does the same thing, we can get a faster response. Feel free to copy and paste. I just submitted this:

Subject: Touch ID Fails after a short time

Touch ID works great initially, but fails completely for me after a few hours.

It seems to me that it fails because my prints change a little bit, and thinking they’re normal, the software adds them to the existing print. Over time, this actually degrades the existing print, until it no longer works. I suggest that you change the software as follows:

1 change the enrollment procedure to allow as many scans as I want to do

2 allow me to go back and add to an enrollment at any time

3 provide a “disable” switch in the touch id settings to disable the automatic modification of a stored print by the software

I would be willing to test these ideas, if you want.

Feedback submitted, I stated that TID fails after scanning, usually within a day and pointed them to this discussion.

paulfromhere wrote:

[snip]

2 allow me to go back and add to an enrollment at any time

3 provide a “disable” switch in the touch id settings to disable the automatic modification of a stored print by the software

Your request 2 is already doable. Register a finger and after it's accepted, go back to the screen and touch home to highlight the entry. Now move slightly (forward) beyond the area registered to see it does not highlight. Now move back to an area at the edge of the enrolled print making sure it highlights, and ever so slightly, move towards the previously unrecognized area, making SURE each move highlights. Gradually you will see it now will highlight the area which failed before. Presto.

Works best if you move slightly forward towards the fingertip...

Again, methodical print enrollment will solve all but S/W related TID issues, and prints still work weeks later.

paulfromhere wrote:

[snip]

Touch ID works great initially, but fails completely for me after a few hours.

[snip]

IMHO, a more important issue is, why are there S/W related issues which disable TID, or require workarounds to bring it back from a brain-dead state.

And: Why does TID not work after I wash my hands or shower for at times hours, when others state they do not have these problems?

Not speaking for myself, just reflecting on what others hese see. 🙂

Here's another thank you to Joe_Fo and his instructions for making TID more reliable:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5446246?tstart=30

I always use my right thumb and like many here, TID works reliably for just a day or two but then stops recognizing my thumb. I suffered this way for months. But Joe_Fo's instructions to scan more of the pad of my thumb instead of the tip has worked well over the past few days.

I think many of us are used to pressing the iPhone button with the tip of our finger. But for fingerprint scanning it seems that using a different placement, more like for a scan, improves results. I don't have a cover, cleaning the sensor or my thumb doesn't make a difference, etc. I'm thankful for not having to scan my thumb every other day!

I've spend some time and try to do experiments with TID and notice that, stable work of sensor depend on wet of your fingers. If your fingers at least a little bit wet scanner won't work. For stable functionality of sensor your fingers must be extremely dry, and it doesn't matter how many times you have registered your finger.

In my opinion, problem with TID is in software part. I think that developers should do scanner less sensitive to fingerprints.

P.S. If somebody has time to repeat this experiment, please let me know if it's works in comments.

You are right it does affect. But this didn't happen first 2,3 weeks.

And as I am testing in touch ID settings where you register your fingers, it will highlight what finger you scanned. Sensor seems that it doesn't always work. Cause why would it accept my fingerprint 3 times in a row then 5 times it won't accept either fingers. Nowadays it's not working in the morning at all, now (at night) it's working 70% of the time. Weird and frustrating. I usually dig enough to know what's causing this. No clue for 1 week