Q: Touch ID being Erratic

While there's no doubt the TID S/W changes over time in its attempt to improve, there are many who do not have a problem with degrading prints.  If it were the S/W at fault, how does that explain those who don't have a pproblem?

On odd things happening, I just had one minutes ago which was reported in this thread a while ago by others, that being, an unlock attempt which appears to not work at all, no try again, no swipe to unlock, and no prompt to input a passcode.  I don't remember the exact details of what had been reported, but in my case just now it happened after a (silent) banner notification poped up on a locked screen, and I placed a registered thumb on the sensor without depressing, and _nothing_ happened.  Replaced thumb several times (more than 5) and still nothing happened. Notification messages were still displayed.

I then swiped the screen to see if I could get to the enter passcode screen, and was greeted with a fully unlocked phone. No indication the thumb was accepted, and no prompt to enter a passcode. 

Will keep an eye on it to see if it's repeatable.

I've experienced that same unlock bug.  It looks to me like it accepts the print (even though there's no indication) but just doesn't unlock the phone until you slide to the right. Definitely another glitch. 

In our experinece a scan done without much variation as to finger placement when the scanning software suggests repositioning the finger yields better results in use as long as the user is also dilligent in placing the finger in much the same position as they did during the scan. While this might yield a high hit rate over time it does so with greatly diminished general usability. Most users I suspect, when using the phone in daily life, desire the ability to unlock the phone quickly and without exacting care being applied. An origianl scan which follows the on screen instructions slightly repositioning the finger several times yields a rather remarkable ability to recognize the fingerprint without the need to exactly position the finger. Unfortunately this ability diminishes with use. Variations in success I suspect relate to the nature of the original scan and the care taken when attempting to unlock the phone via the scanner. Most users need to grab the phone from their pocket or wherever and unlock it with only a reasonable effort in placing their finger on the sensor. I know that none of the users of this forum would ever attempt to unlock the phone while driving but if they did, needing to hold the phone and place the finger just so might not serve.

mrsnork wrote:

 

I've experienced that same unlock bug.  It looks to me like it accepts the print (even though there's no indication) but just doesn't unlock the phone until you slide to the right. Definitely another glitch. 

Do you recall if it was after (during) a notification popup?

Joe_Fo wrote:

 

Do you recall if it was after (during) a notification popup?

I'm pretty sure those were the circumstances, but I don't quite recall.  If it happens again I'll make note of it.

It's clear that we are all experiencing different problems with touchID.

I only have a problem with the unlock screen.

Some people have problems with their prints themselves. And, contrary to what some say, I don't doubt that you are intelligent enough to do the setup properly.

For all these people, try repeating presses on the screen showing where all your prints are stored. I am pretty sure that the sensor keeps learning the print even there. Move your finger around millimeter by millimeter between touches to scan all the finger area and the tip of the finger. Doing so on this page will allow you to do a lot more touches.

mrsnork wrote:

 

Joe_Fo wrote:

 

Do you recall if it was after (during) a notification popup?

 

I'm pretty sure those were the circumstances, but I don't quite recall.  If it happens again I'll make note of it.

My apologies. False alarm   I gotta get more sleep...

I totally forgot I did another reset very early this AM and reset most settings, then got swamped with other things and now realize this was the first time I unlocked the phone, but I never set up a passcode let along scanned a print.

Either more sleep or more bourbon. Not sure which. Sigh.

I have tried the repeated pressing of the sensor on the screen showing where the prints are stored. I does not make any difference. In a day or so, I have to re-register my print. It seems as though perhaps the software is becoming corrupted over time and eventually can't decipher your fingerprint anymore?

Could anyone who has had their phones replaced comment if the problem changed? It appears only one person had his phone replaced?

I have been on Sunday to the Apple Store. My problem was that if my thumb was little wet, the TID didn't work. This is a problem that i had most in my house. I spoke with a genius that did a hardware diagnostic and he said that there's not hardware problem on my iphone, so TID works. The problem of the thumb that is wet is a problem of the place, of the situations of the body and the climate situation. I agree with him, that didn't replaced my phone. I observed that when i leave my iPhone on the desk, it starts to become cold, because here in italy it's winter. When i use it, my thumb is NOT cold, so on the glass of the screen appears the condensate, that obviously (is water) make not work the TID. This is a normale situation, not a problem of TID or software problem. I solved it in one way: when i leave the TID on the desk, i leave it upside down, so the touch id doesn't become "cold", it remains with a standard temperature, so when i take it and i unlock i have a 70-80% of success. Then all depends from the cleaning of my hands and from some little bugs of this horrible iOS 7. I hope in 7.1. That's all for me.

After my last post I tried to calm down ant start using TID as is for some days. I stopped re-registering the prints and found a stable and clear symptoms. My TID is failing when my finger is at least a little wet. Usually it happens inside buildings, or if I keep hands in my pockets. If The finger is dry, it works about 100% times with all the finger surface, but when the finger becomes a little wet, it becomes very dumb and is failing almost every try. The temperature is not important, it works with dry finger, when temperature of the phone (i wear it in my outside jacket pocket) is near zero, and will fail with moist one, when its about 20-30 degree inside the building.

I will repeat, that when i bought the phone, before 7.0.2 update It worked FLAWLESSLY an didnt mind neither the accuracy of registration, nor finger wet'ness.

washappenow wrote:

 

Could anyone who has had their phones replaced comment if the problem changed? It appears only one person had his phone replaced?

No one has had a replacement work well for a long time except joe_flo. Several people are continuing to replace, but have not had the replacements long enough yet to know.

Nope, not me.  We have the same 2 we bought on launch day.  Working fine ever since I started registering prints the way I've described.

I'm on day one with my replacement. So far so good. How do you register your prints like they say ? Is there a guide online or something ? Let me know. Thanks

Just to add that my wife and I still have had very little difficulty with TID. In one of my previous posts I mentioned keeping the TID button clean and that's what we do. We only experience occasional retries but not enough to worry about. And we love the 5S just as it is. Yes I would like 100% operation, but I'll take the security provided with this is new technology. We are waiting to see where all the reports of the more serious problems that some users are experiencing lead.

Please keep us informed of your results. I am reluctant to exchange my phone because I am not convinced that the hardware is faulty. From all that I have read, I am convinced it is software.