Q: Touch ID being Erratic

doggyluver5 wrote:

 

I got a new phone straight from Apple a week or so ago.  They told me the TID was a hardware problem.  It works no better than the first one.  It is gold so I doubt the color is the issue.  Someone on here, way back, said something about if the S/N started with DN it was from one of the factories that has had trouble with their sensors. The phone I have now starts with DN but the first one started with FI. 

[snip]

 

You have that backwards. It was stated that DN serial numbered phones work with TID and damp hands. Note though that there's too small a sample size to state there's any truth to a factory based TID problem.

RodneyEvangelio wrote:

 

I have my iPhone 5s for about two weeks now and all is working fine including the Touch ID, until i noticed from last week up to now that my touch id is not working consistently. I tried to re-enroll my fingers (knowing the proper ways to enroll my finger) i also watched youtube videos regarding enrolling and also read many threads about this issue. Including Apple's official tip.

[snip]

 

You never mentioned what version IOS either phones have. Make sure it's the latest.

Do both phones have a case, and if so, what type of material?

If your TID works only by putting Scotch tape over the home button, have it replaced as that makes no sense at all. Why did you even think of putting tape over the button?

Both runs iOS 7.0.4 yes i have a metal bumper case, i also have a rubber bumper and plastic case. I tried the metal method with holding the metal with both hands and using it when stepping on a ground but seems like didn't make any difference. My phone works when my finger is fully clean and as well as my sensor. But to my brother's, it works everytime whether my finger and sensor are clean or not. I also let him use my phone (his hands are not sweaty tho) it works like i think 70% mostly it fails on his first try so he wipes off the sensor and it will work. He said he barely experience having a Try Again when unlocking his phone which i also don't experience when using his. So having said that my phone's TID works 50% when fully clean and almost 0% when not, i tried putting a small piece of scotch tape on the sensor because i think it will help blocking the sweat or moisture that direcltly making a contact to the sensor and surprisingly i never encounter a Try Again since then.

I want a replacement but i'm afraid to say that i live in the Philippines and i got my phone here. There's no Apple Center here, no Apple genius and everything. Also i got this from my local carrier (contract of 2 years started on december 6). It's really hard to prove to them especially this works sometimes so i'm not confident that they will accept this and make a replacement (if so, they will send this to Apple and Apple will perform a test, if this works by the time it is being tested then they will just ship it back to me without doing any changes)

I don't think i'm just overreacting to my TID's inconsistency because i use my brother's phone and i can tell that there's really a difference between the two. Thank you for the response btw, i appreciate it =)

And it gets progressively worse overtime even i clean the sensor and i clean my finger, i always get a Try Again until it will require me to enter the passcode. My sensor has no scratches. I also tried enrolling my one thumb print twice finger 1 and finger 2, it worked well for an hour but gets bad as it was again. I even tried enrolling it three times, same thing happened.

RodneyEvangelio wrote:

 

[snip]

I also tried enrolling my one thumb print twice finger 1 and finger 2, it worked well for an hour but gets bad as it was again. I even tried enrolling it three times, same thing happened.

More than one finger has _always_ caused failures for me, as well as others in this thread.

Please delete all and enroll just the finger (thumb) you use the most. And use only one of the five positions available. One finger, one entry only.

Clean and dry your phone and hands first. I'd remove the tape as well. Make sure there's no residue from the tape left on the phone. Do not use anything other than a soft cloth dampened with water to clean it off.

You mentioned YouTube video. I'm assuming you mean the one I posted. If not, please try that and see if it makes a difference for you.

I have been following this forum for some time and the issue doesn't seem to be related to phone color... In fact, I have a grey phone that has had the same issues as everbody else has had in the past.

Joe_Fo, FYI yesterday I had TID failure about 4 hours after rescanning my fingerprint using your method. The print that had been scanned prior lasted about 4 days before failure. I've rescanned today and we'll see what happens.

I am getting more frustrated with this.

smilleresq wrote:

 

[snip]

I am getting more frustrated with this.

I would as well, however my prints are still holding up.  Perhaps because I don't use the phone as much during the day, unlocking only 1-3 times an hour?  Don't know. Much higher usage when testing though.  My wife's single thumb still working since day one, but her usage is much less than mine.

Interesting development on the hybrid left/right thumb entry. The left thumb after 5 days is down to a very small area, the right thumb will hightlight either the single or hybrid entry depending on what spot is centered on the sensor. Jury still out on the JPBOSS composite entry. The fact that the left thumb is starting to fail is no different (I believe) than my experience with enrolling more than one finger.

I can't understand why the "hybrid left/right" entry method would work with any sort of reliability, let alone greater reliability then randomly scanning a fingerprint. It jist seems to have no logic to it

I don't use my phone that often either, and more often then not I open the phone with the passcode rather then TID. When I got 4 days of use I mentioned earlier, I would do retraining in the morning after all the processes got going and it would work fine. However, on the fifth morning there was no recognition whatsoever which led me to rescan and have quick failure.

The thumb that I scanned on Dec 3 with the Apple method is still working almost 100% of the time.

It was scanned without the case on. The Apple case was replaced three days later. I now only have one finger enroled.

smilleresq wrote:

 

I don't use my phone that often either, and more often then not I open the phone with the passcode rather then TID. When I got 4 days of use I mentioned earlier, I would do retraining in the morning after all the processes got going and it would work fine. However, on the fifth morning there was no recognition whatsoever which led me to rescan and have quick failure.

I also had the problem of TID suddenly failing 100% of the time.  It got to the point that even after a restore and setup as new phone with no apps installed it still failed right away.  I had my phone replaced on December 8 and have not had that problem since. Not once. With one (and only one) print registered TID has worked very well.  Accordingly, I suspect the hardware is to blame for that total failure issue. I think software is the problem for the slow degradation of the print issues, which is accelerated by having more than one print enrolled.  In fact, enrolling only one print has entirely eliminated my TID issues, at least since the hardware was replaced.

I rescanned my fingerprint about 2 1/2 hours ago and other then checking it once to see the coverage I did not open my phone at all. TID did not initially work and upon checking the scan in settings I was able to find a small area of recognition and "retrain" it to recognize more.

Could this have been related to processes running with the phone awakining? The speed of degradation is troubling.

smilleresq wrote:

 

[snip]

 

Could this have been related to processes running with the phone awakining? The speed of degradation is troubling.

I'll throw this out again for all:  If repeatable, contact Apple, ask for second tier support for TID, explain the problem and request the "profile" to collect debug data.  It might help pinpoint the problem.

One other thought: When the hard failure happened, it would be interesting to see what happens after a power cycle.  I've had odd problems on an iPad Air which went back to working atter a reboot.

First of all I can't believe there isn't a mobile version of this site, and if there is I don't know why it's not automatically on.

Anyways

I've been following the discussion here for a while till about page 46.

I too, like the many have had a diss appointing experience with touchid not working.

I've done literally all the advice offered here to no avail.

But with a combination of two basic tips, my touchid has been working pretty **** well.

1. No screen protector (yet I suspect the static electricity theory isn't the problem)

2. Wipe touchid censor with microfiber cloth for a few seconds

3.Scan your preferred finger at least three times in different positions... And in the natural way in which you grasp your phone.

4. Each time the scanner doesn't read your finger twice or three times wipe the sensor with your shirt a few times and rescan. BOOM YOUR IN

This has been working for me, and although I would like it to work without having to wipe it, I'm happy that it does work to a certain extent.

Good luck and I hope this helps someone

bondsonroids wrote:

 

 

 

I've been following the discussion here for a while till about page 46.

I too, like the many have had a diss appointing experience with touchid not working.

I've done literally all the advice offered here to no avail.

But with a combination of two basic tips, my touchid has been working pretty **** well.

1. No screen protector (yet I suspect the static electricity theory isn't the problem)

2. Wipe touchid censor with microfiber cloth for a few seconds

3.Scan your preferred finger at least three times in different positions... And in the natural way in which you grasp your phone.

4. Each time the scanner doesn't read your finger twice or three times wipe the sensor with your shirt a few times and rescan. BOOM YOUR IN

 

This has been working for me, and although I would like it to work without having to wipe it, I'm happy that it does work to a certain extent.

 

Good luck and I hope this helps someone

Glad that works for you... It does not work for me.