Touch ID being Erratic

What the last few posters have described is a software issue. It's the same issue almost all of us on this thread experienced. Try the steps I posted earlier. Any 5S can potentially have this problem, so swapping it for another phone will probably do you no good, as it did no good for me. Check your diagnositic log and see if there are crashes and low memory warnings. You can get Touch ID to work by fiddling with the settings I described earlier. Bottom line though, iOS 7 needs an update.

I'm having the exact same problem even after re-registering the prints. I've done it according to the instructions exactly. I believe this is a fairly widespread problem, based on information I found on the internet, which is what led me to this thread. Hoping Apple has a quick response, as I too bought this phone over the 5C because I wanted this feature.

It may be a combination of software or hardware issue. My replacement has been working flawlessly. I did a restore from my first iPhone 5S. I even have background apps running a before. I didn't remove or change what I used on the first iPhone 5S. Same everything, yet the replacement Touch ID works perfectly. So it's really up to the user to decide weather replace or wait. I decided to replace it and it worked for me. :-)

I was not as lucky with a replacement, but got it working finally. I haven't had to redo prints in over two weeks. I'm pretty sure it's software, but you never know. Dreammachine1, why don't you go ahead and get a replacement and see? Do you have an Apple Store near you? If so, it's a no-brainer. Even if you don't, Apple will send a replacement and you can send the old one back when it is received. They will put a hold on a credit card until they get it back.

Mine rarely works as well even with clean, dry hands and a clean home button. I'm wondering if it's worth making a genius bar appointment or if I should just wait and see if a software update does the trick. It's really frustrating.

mrsnork wrote:

SuperSizeIt: For me a new unit did nothing to solve the problem--even when set up as a new phone and not from a previous backup. It worked fine until I loaded any apps onto it. Because it didn't seem to make any difference, I reverted to my most recent backup rather than lose years of data. Dreammachine1 is right, as far I can tell it's a combination of iOS 7 and third party apps causing crashes.

For what it's worth, I've had no issues for over a week, and the prints were registered over two weeks ago. I do have my right thumb in there twice, which does seem to help some with recognition, but I've only had the problem where Touch ID repeatedlty fails after a crash or low memory situation (or both). You'll see it in the diagnostic log of your device. Turning off background app refresh, location services and notifications for certain unstable apps and services has cut down on crashing immensely, and thus improved the stability of Touch ID.

Obviously, iOS 7 was designed to work with all these things turned on, so hopefully it's a temporary fix. I am fairly confident that the next iOS update or two (and updates to 3rd party apps) will improve things.

So I looked at my logs, and don't see anything obvious in the way of crashes. How are they identified? Next, I thought I'd shut off ALL background apps and rescan fingers. Did this, things looked good, worked well, so I put the phone in my pocket and did nothing for over an hour. When I tried again at that point, intermittency at best and more often than not, flat out failure. So I was doing NOTHING on the iPhone and background apps were disabled. Problem still occurs.

The log is at Settings->General->About->Diagnostics and Usage->Diagnostic and Usage Data. On mine, I had several entries that showed "LatestCrash-[App name].plist" and "LowMemory-[Date/time]." The low memory entries showed which app was using the most memory at that time. Closing apps out in the multitaking mode (double-click home button, swipe up) helped, as did closing the multiple windows I had open in Safari. Then reboot the phone.

No guarantees, but a couple other things I'd try are turning off apps in notification center and disabling apps in location services. Even with background app refresh turned off, these services will still cause apps to run in the background.

bohicalL, I'm curious: have you taken the phone to an Apple Store for this issue? This problem is becoming more wide-spread by the day it seems. I'm (almost) sure Apple will address it in the next software update.

While I won't deny there may be some with defective H/W, or some buggy S/W involved, I had problems too, and the fix for me was simple. I'd suggest trying it before doing anything drastic, or wasting time chasing your tail. Only takes minutes to try. Go ahead, give your 5S the finger. Just do it the right way ;)

Try https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5446246?answerId=23417646022#23417646022

-Joe

mrsnork wrote:

The log is at Settings->General->About->Diagnostics and Usage->Diagnostic and Usage Data. On mine, I had several entries that showed "LatestCrash-[App name].plist" and "LowMemory-[Date/time]." The low memory entries showed which app was using the most memory at that time. Closing apps out in the multitaking mode (double-click home button, swipe up) helped, as did closing the multiple windows I had open in Safari. Then reboot the phone.

No guarantees, but a couple other things I'd try are turning off apps in notification center and disabling apps in location services. Even with background app refresh turned off, these services will still cause apps to run in the background.

bohicalL, I'm curious: have you taken the phone to an Apple Store for this issue? This problem is becoming more wide-spread by the day it seems. I'm (almost) sure Apple will address it in the next software update.

Don't see any identified crash logs. Did shut off location services too now and killed all running apps. Will try in several hours to see what happens.

I have not gone to an Apple store yet- have only had the phone for 2 days I'm expecting a second phone this week for my wife, though, so will be interested to see if it/she has the problem.

I agree with Joe that this is definitely worth a try. I was having the same issues (or at least the same symptoms) as everyone else here but I too saw this post and this has solved the issue for me. it seems that recognition of the tip of the thumb is unreliable. Maybe this is hardware or software or perhaps a limitation of the technology. Also, when using the tip of your thumb it is oiften the case, at least for me, that you are not making good contact with enough of the metalk ring aroudn the home button which is essential for successfuly operation.

Anyway, I now make a point of using the 'pad' of my thumb and it is now working 95% of the time consistently for me. it may not fix everyone's problem but I think it is worth a go.

I am on my second handset and it's exactly the same as the first. Surely it must be either a hardware or software problem.

Dreanmachine1 wrote:

We returned from a 4 day trip today, both the wife's and my iPhone 5s were working fairly accurately (mine more than hers). The 3 year old grandson got the phone upon our return. He is good about understanding the games and opening apps. Saw that we had a low memory diagnostic indicator at the end of the day, as my wife was complaining that the finger print was significantly struggling. Likely due to many apps getting opened (maybe about 10). Her print just stopped working well. Closed down the apps, did a hard power off, came back up, and the unit is near perfection again. Go figure. The mystery continues . . .

Yes, I've experienced the same thing. It appears that running a lot of apps at once can cause the low memory situation, which will in turn cause Touch ID to fail. Closing out the apps and restarting seems to bring it back in line. Just one of the reasons I'm so sure it's a software issue, and not a problem with the hardware itself.

Joe_Fo wrote:

While I won't deny there may be some with defective H/W, or some buggy S/W involved, I had problems too, and the fix for me was simple. I'd suggest trying it before doing anything drastic, or wasting time chasing your tail. Only takes minutes to try. Go ahead, give your 5S the finger. Just do it the right way ;)

Try https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5446246?answerId=23417646022#23417646022

-Joe

Thank you Joe. Yes, by all means try this first. Joe is right. Touch ID works much better with the pad or thicker part of your finger or thumb, rather than the tip. The best and fastest way to use it is to click the home button to wake the phone ( but don't hold the button down or you'll activate Siri) and keep the pad of your thumb or finger on the button to unlock it all in one move.

I think even with this method though there are people still having software or other more technincal issues. I certainly was.