Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
It works perfectly fine for me, even with sweaty fingers. Either some people have a faulty sensor or there is something about their fingers making sensor go crazy.

Actually, if you Google "iphone fingerprint sensor sweat" you'll find that a lot of people have this problem.

Sweat and water are known interference factors with RF sensors like this one.

Normally a signal goes through the finger and out through the underlying fingerprint ridges into the sensor.

With moisture, the signal can get short-circuited across the face of the sensor instead, masking the fingerprint ridge info behind it.
 
My hands get sweaty through the day and I've noticed that even the tiniest amount of wetness in my thumb completely renders the Touch ID useless...Yes, I understand I can wash my hands and dry my fingers but I doing so every time I want to unlock my phone seems like a hassle.



Anybody else have this problem?

TouchID never works for me when my hands are wet, 100% of the time.
 
Actually, if you Google "iphone fingerprint sensor sweat" you'll find that a lot of people have this problem.

Sweat and water are known interference factors with RF sensors like this one.

Normally a signal goes through the finger and out through the underlying fingerprint ridges into the sensor.

With moisture, the signal can get short-circuited across the face of the sensor instead, masking the fingerprint ridge info behind it.

I know that, but still, my fingerprint sensor keeps working even with wet fingers, being practically 100% reliable. (It even works when my friend's 5s refuses to unlock due to his sweaty fingers).
 
Touch ID sometimes fails for me when my hand is cold also.

I tried to use my phone a few days ago when it was -2F out and it took me about 6 tries to unlock my 6 plus.
 
My iPad Air 2 handles my fingers just fine no matter what condition they're in. My iPhone 6 consistently has issues with the slightest bit of moisture. I've redone the prints several times on the iPhone 6 to no avail. I really do think some people have faulty sensors.
 
I agree with the faulty sensors. My first iPhone 5s was terrible when I was at the gym. Always ended up having to use my passcode and just chalked it up to sweat. After receiving a replacement for an unrelated issue I noticed an extreme improvement. Still had a failure now and then but not near as often.

My 6 is very reliable in the same conditions. TBH I don't think I've experienced a failure that wasn't due to finger positioning on this phone.
 
I had the same issue with my iPhone 6. I have very clammy and sweaty hands, so I always had to wipe my thumb on jeans to dry it.

Luckily they've improved this issue on the iPhone 7! I have yet to discover this issue on the iPhone 7, it is much more responsive to slightly wet fingers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Applejuiced
so everytime u take out ur phone u just have to wipe ur hands before using? BRO
If your hands are sweaty or wet or dirty or something like that, wouldn't that be a fairly natural thing to do when you are about to use petty much anything, let alone something with a touchscreen?
 
If your hands are sweaty or wet or dirty or something like that, wouldn't that be a fairly natural thing to do when you are about to use petty much anything, let alone something with a touchscreen?

Sometimes you just need to do something quickly, and you're in the middle of something. With my 6 my thumb has to be quite dry for it to work.

What helps a lot though is if you place the centre of your thumb then drag it a bit towards the spot that it recognizes. This causes any previous prints to smear, making it easier to read your thumb.

Of course, it would be wonderful if there was a way to temporarily disable TouchID/password for a short period. I absolutely do not need my phone to lock at all while I have my headphones on at the gym, and that's where it's very unreliable.
 
Sometimes you just need to do something quickly, and you're in the middle of something. With my 6 my thumb has to be quite dry for it to work.

What helps a lot though is if you place the centre of your thumb then drag it a bit towards the spot that it recognizes. This causes any previous prints to smear, making it easier to read your thumb.

Of course, it would be wonderful if there was a way to temporarily disable TouchID/password for a short period. I absolutely do not need my phone to lock at all while I have my headphones on at the gym, and that's where it's very unreliable.

So turn off Touch ID when you got to gym. Take you like 15 seconds. Really, consider it like changing into gym outfit.
 
So turn off Touch ID when you got to gym. Take you like 15 seconds. Really, consider it like changing into gym outfit.

Is there a way to do that without having it need to re-learn your fingers again?

Last time I turned it off it needed to start all over when I turned it back on.
 
I have dry thumbs but I only get around 70% success rate on my right thumb with the IP6 and IP7, my other entry level android device gets it around 98% of the time.
 
It works perfectly fine even when my fingers are sweaty. (6 plus). My friend's 5s however, has trouble with his sweaty hands. It simply refuses to recognize his fingerprints.
He has registered his fingerprints on my phone and whenever his phone refuses to unlock (due to sweaty fingers), he tries it on my phone immediately, without wiping his finger, and it works 100% of the time.
Either Apple has improved Touch ID on 6(plus), or some phones have a faulty sensor.


i thought the 5s SE and 6 use the first gen touch id. where the 6s and 7 use the 2nd gen. it should be the same with the 5s and 6. i noticed a big different after owning an SE and a 6s
 
Is there a way to do that without having it need to re-learn your fingers again?

Last time I turned it off it needed to start all over when I turned it back on.
Have you tried setting up with wet fingers? Just a thought. I'd be curious if it would then work with wet fingers.
 
when my hands are even the slightest sweaty, or anything it does not work. sometimes even after just wiping it off on my shirt it doesnt work.
 
Have you tried setting up with wet fingers? Just a thought. I'd be curious if it would then work with wet fingers.

It doesn't work because the water tracks into your prints making it look different each time.
 
Try registering a wet/moist thumbprint as well. I found it has helped in the past.

I definitely find TouchID to not register after my showers.
 
My hands get sweaty through the day and I've noticed that even the tiniest amount of wetness in my thumb completely renders the Touch ID useless...Yes, I understand I can wash my hands and dry my fingers but I doing so every time I want to unlock my phone seems like a hassle.



Anybody else have this problem?

We all do. The touch ID does not work well with a wet finger. Been that way from day one.

If a hassle, go back to entering the six digit code . . . . that is a hassle.

Just get in the habit of wiping your thumb off before unlocking your phone.
 
Touch ID works flawless when u guy the home new even with dirty or sweaty fingers but after a couple months it's not the same
 
If my hands are damp or I've recently washed my hands touched is nonfunctional. It makes the 6 digit passcode more frustrating.
 
My hands get sweaty through the day and I've noticed that even the tiniest amount of wetness in my thumb completely renders the Touch ID useless...Yes, I understand I can wash my hands and dry my fingers but I doing so every time I want to unlock my phone seems like a hassle.



Anybody else have this problem?


Simple solution is to save fingerprint of little finger. It is the least likely to be sweaty, oil or moist
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.