iPad (4th gen) wrong manual focus

Hi.

I take pictures with my iPad seldom, since I usually use my iPhone.... so I don't really know if this is an old issue or something that started recently...

anyway when I tap on the subject to manual focus, the iPad goes through the different focus distances, "looking for" the right one...and then totally misses it. The pic is completely out of focus, and cleaning the lens or removing the case makes no difference.

Oddly enough, if I aim to another subject and wait for the iPad to autofocus, most of the times it gets the right focus.

Is there anything I can do? Does anybody experience the same issue?