Is the Touch ID sensor on your iPhone or iPad not working as well as it used to? Are you able to unlock your device only after several attempts? It may be a hardware issue, or the problem may not be that serious and can be easily fixed.
The home button on your iOS device is extremely sensitive equipment. Not only does it allow you to instantly jump to the home screen, but it also acts as a powerful fingerprint scanner. Any iPhone user will confirm that when it works (and, more often than not, there are no problems), everything is just fine. However, sometimes this button does not function quite correctly.
If your Touch ID sensor has started acting strange, there could be many reasons for it. But before you replace it entirely, try a few solutions that may help you save money.
Note: If you do need to replace your hardware, remember that this can only be done by Apple itself or an Apple-authorized repair technician. Replacing the Home button at a third-party repair shop can lead to serious problems.
Mud and water
Most often, dirt and water are the culprits of the problem. Most likely, you will not be able to unlock the device with wet or damp hands.
Likewise, if your hands are covered in a layer of dirt or grease that obscures fingerprints, gaining access to your device may not be such an easy task.
IN in this case The solution is quite simple: wash your hands and dry them.
However, there is a possibility that dirt may have gotten on the Home button itself. Try wiping it with a soft, dry cloth. If this doesn't help, use a can of compressed air.
Cold weather, hard work and worn fingerprints
Cold weather can dry out your hands, leaving them rough. If you live in a cold, dry climate, there's a good chance that your fingerprints will change enough that Touch ID won't recognize them.
Handwork can also affect your fingerprints. Your hands may become so rough and worn that Touch ID has trouble recognizing your fingerprints.
Try adding the modified prints to the list of acceptable ones until the weather changes or take a break from working to return your hands to their previous state.
Issues with updates
You should always install the latest updates for your iOS versions, by the way, I recently wrote about how to disable Predictive Dialing. However, sometimes new software versions can become a source of problems. If you experience a sudden failure touch sensor ID immediately after updating your iPhone or iPad, it may be due to faulty software.
In such a situation, you can wait to install the update, or roll back the system to a previous version of the software.
Update the fingerprints stored in the system
If none of the above methods helped you, try updating your fingerprints saved in the system. This procedure will likely resolve many, if not all, Touch ID related issues.
We have several articles devoted to this process. There is a method to improve fingerprint recognition on your device. In addition, you can add additional prints in case the main ones stop working.
When all else fails, use a factory reset
If even updating your saved fingerprints does not help you, you may have to reset device to factory settings. After contacting a repair shop, this is the most extreme option and will result in a complete cleaning of your iPhone or iPad. Therefore, if you do not want to lose your photos, videos, messages and other important data, take care of it in advance.
If you still can't solve the problem, it's time to admit defeat and take your device to certified technicians for repair. It won't be cheap, but the Home button is tightly coupled to your iPhone or iPad, so you don't have much of a choice. If you try to save, you'll probably end up spending more money in the long run, and also risk turning your device into a piece of plastic. Contact Apple and Apple-authorized repair shops only.
How to repair the fingerprint scanner on Asus ZenFone 3
Identify the culprit
First, we need to find the instigator of the problem.
“Is the problem caused by a hardware fault or simply a software bug?”
Is important issue for these and similar Android problems. To do this, you can use a simple code that should bring up a diagnostic menu so you can scan for hardware failures.
Follow the instructions below to use the hidden diagnostic tool on your phone:
Open the calculator.
Enter the following code:
0,12345 + =
Don't put a zero before the period.
Once you click the Equals sign, you will see the Diagnostics menu.
Select Single test.
Select fingerprint test.
If you see an OK sign, it's just a software error. If the test shows that the hardware is faulty, you're out of luck.
If the equipment is truly defective, be sure to contact the phone retailer or submit a freight ticket. On the other hand, if the problem is strictly related to software, be sure to check the additional steps. Plus, you can use this great routine to test all kinds of various functions phone on your Asus device.
Clean up
In addition to hardware and software, the problem can only be caused by a dirty sensor. If it's hot outside and your hands are sweaty, this can affect the fingerprint reader and make the scan unclear. So be sure to wipe it with a damp cloth and try again. Also, make sure your hands are dry before use. This should improve reading.
But, unfortunately, this only helps if the problem is neither hardware nor software related.
Recover fingerprint Asus Zenfone 3
First software solution, is the recovery of your fingerprint. This is somewhat similar to resetting the fingerprint scanner. Sometimes the settings on the scanner become corrupted and therefore it may be difficult to read the scanner's readings. To this end, we advise you to follow these instructions and hope for the best:
Open settings.
Tap Fingerprint.
Click Manage Fingerprints.
Delete all Fingerprints and restore them again.
Due to accurate readings, dry fingerprints are important.
If you are unable to change these settings due to the fingerprint sensor being completely dysfunctional, follow these steps.
Nova and other third-party launchers are a great way to completely customize everything about your device. Especially the interface and screen lock. But unfortunately, some Asus ZenFone 3 users have reported issues with the fingerprint reader when combined with third-party launchers in Nougat. This only applies to users with stock ROM. If you have flashed a custom ROM, there is a chance that everything will work as intended. At least without a launcher interfering with the fingerprint scanner.
Open the menu or select Settings > Apps.
Find Launcher and remove it.
Reboot your device and look for changes.
Perform a factory reset
In the end, if you can't get your fingerprint reader to work and you're confident that the hardware is working as intended, you might want to consider accepting a factory reset.
Before you can reset your settings to default, be sure to back up your data to Google Drive or your computer.
Once you are sure that you have everything backed up, you can finally move on to the factory reset.
Here's how to do it:
Open settings.
Click Backup & Reset.
Click "Factory Data Reset".
Select Reset phone.
Confirm your choice and everything should work for you.
After installing iOS firmware on iPhone 5S, a problem may arise where Touch ID does not work on iPhone 5s. Our review will help owners of Apple gadgets understand what to do in such cases.
The problem arises due to the imperfect sensitivity of the fingerprint scanner, but with each updated firmware, Apple promises to improve the functionality of Touch ID and its response to touches. Loss of sensitivity of the Touch ID biometric scanner does not occur immediately, but over time, and given the fact that this is completely new technology, you can close your eyes a little to the flaws in his work.
The first advice for these symptoms is to perform a repeat scan. This will help improve the response of Touch ID and, probably, the user will be able to postpone a visit to the service center for a long time.
- In the smartphone settings menu (basic), go to “Touch ID and password”.
- Select a fingerprint from the Touch ID menu (pulsates gray) and scan it again. If necessary, perform this procedure with all previously registered fingerprints in the iPhone’s memory.
What to do if Touch ID doesn't work at all
If, during a secondary scan of the fingerprints that you registered before, the problem could not be resolved, and the scanner does not respond to touch at all, use our second advice - remove all your fingerprints (the “delete” button), and then register them again.
Removing fingerprints. Step-by-step instruction
- Open iPhone 5S's main settings → Touch ID & Passcode and enter the secret code.
- Select the sub-item of the menu that opens “Touch ID and password”.
- Enter the passcode you previously set (secret code).
- Selecting the fingerprints that you have previously registered one by one, delete them by clicking the “Delete Finger print” button.
Re-registration of fingerprints. Instructions
After removal, the problem when the fingerprint does not work on the iPhone 5s is eliminated, because the gadget will function perfectly without activating this innovative function, but the trouble is that the owner of the iPhone likes its capabilities, he is already used to using it. So, let’s register the “fingers” again. Apple took care of users and created the most simple diagram adding fingerprints to the gadget's memory. Re-registration in many cases helped resolve the issue of Touch ID failure.
- Go to the iPhone 5S settings menu → “Touch ID and password”. At this point, you will have no registered fingerprints since you just deleted them all.
- As before, select the “Add a Fingerprint...” function.
- To fix the problem of fingerprint not working on iPhone 5s, hold the finger whose fingerprint you want to add and press the Home button several times. You must remember to tap several times until the imprint on the screen is completely filled with red.
Raise your finger and touch the Home button as many times as necessary to complete the scan. At the same time, users' opinions on the issue of touch frequency are divided: some believe that the smaller the touch step, the higher the accuracy of fingerprint recognition. Others, on the contrary, believe that moving your finger across the scanner plays a more important role for further work.
After registering again, unlock your iPhone. If everything worked out, you won’t need to read further advice. However, if your smartphone still does not have Touch ID on iPhone 5s, try to resolve the error using the following method.
Restore via backup
Restoring your smartphone completely through a backup can help with the error of the fingerprint scanner not working in the iPhone 5S.
- Connect your smartphone to a PC on which iTunes is installed.
- On the left side or in the upper sector on the right, select your gadget
- Go to the “Browse” menu and select the “iPhone recovery” command.
- You will then see iTunes ask you to create backup iPhone, you should select “Create a backup” if a backup has not been made before. If you previously made a backup copy in iCloud or iTunes, then you do not need to create another one. Then you need to click on the “Restore and Update” command (will appear in a pop-up window).
- The iTunes app will immediately begin installing iOS firmware on your smartphone
- When the installation is complete, you can restore the backup on your phone from the iCloud cloud or via iTunes.
This method, in most cases, should help fix the problem when fingerprints do not work on the iPhone 5s, even though re-registering them did not fix the problem. To be fair, we note that over time Touch ID often does not work on the iPhone 6 either.
Hi all! As has been repeatedly noted on the blog, all articles are problems or questions that either I personally or my friends have encountered. Actually, this is what the site was created for - to share personal experience and help others with Apple technology. And so, my already quite old, but still working iPhone 5S “threw” me another idea for instructions - its Touch ID suddenly stopped working.
And, as it seemed to me at first, this happened completely and irrevocably. No, but what else can you expect? The device is far from new. Chips, scratches, scuffs, falls - all this was and is. Natural wear and tear of the device cannot be avoided :) Therefore, when Touch ID “fell off”, I was not very surprised. The surprise came only later, in the process of solving this problem... however, let's talk about everything in order.
So, a short background:
- I updated to iOS 10.3.1
- After some time, I began to notice that the unlocking sensor did not always work. But, as usual, I didn’t attach any importance to it - maybe my hands were dirty or something else.
- But after I couldn’t log into the client bank using my fingerprint, I got into a solitaire game in my head - Touch ID doesn’t work.
Looking ahead, I would like to note that everything was resolved successfully. But now you’ll find out what actions you had to take to achieve this, let’s go!
It is worth noting that if your iPhone has a non-native Home button (for example, replaced after repair), then Touch ID will not function on it. Never. The fingerprint sensor is “hard-wired” to the system board. One board - one Home button. Also, some sellers immediately sell iPhones with a non-working scanner -.
But we have a different problem - the iPhone stopped recognizing the fingerprint, although nothing happened to it (except for updating iOS). I thought it was a simple system glitch and this is what I did:
And here, it would seem, everything should end. But no - the miracle did not happen and Touch ID still did not work. After this it became clear that the problem was ironclad. And it lies in the cable of the Home button:
- It may be damaged (moisture, careless assembly or disassembly of the device).
- It may simply not be inserted (not installed completely).
And it seems that this is not my case. I didn’t get the iPhone wet, and the scanner worked great since the last disassembly... But still, the device had to be disassembled and this is what happened:
- I took apart the iPhone.
- Disabled the Home button cable.
- I looked at it and, as expected, saw nothing - it is in perfect condition.
- I put it back.
- Touch ID is working.
To be honest, the result surprised me a little :)
I don’t know why simply reconnecting the cable helped, but the fact remains that after this operation the button began to process my fingerprints normally.
Although I have one idea why this could happen - in Lately My iPhone fell several times, quite hard. I already thought that it would even come to replacing the screen, but in the end everything worked out. And maybe it was the falls that caused all these problems.
Does the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on a fairly recent iPhone not always work when touched and you have to constantly enter the password? If you encounter a similar problem, then in this material we will tell you how to fix it.
Everyone knows that after purchasing a new iPhone, it is necessary to complete the activation procedure and initial setup of the device, which includes setting up the Touch ID fingerprint sensor built into the Home button. The user is asked to add a fingerprint with which the iPhone can be unlocked.
From our many years of observations of users setting up a new iPhone, we can say with confidence that adding a fingerprint to Touch ID during the initial setup of the device is often done very quickly and not always with an understanding of the process. Most users hold their iPhone differently than during normal use when setting up the biometric sensor. This is where the whole secret lies.
In addition, after setting up the iPhone for the first time, few people return to the Touch ID options (in iOS settings) to continue the process of improving the sensor's performance. As a result, users continue to use the only fingerprint that was recorded in Touch ID the first time setting up iPhone. But in the sensor parameters you can add as many as 5 prints. So…
Touch ID doesn't work well on iPhone: how to properly set up the fingerprint sensor on iPhone or iPad
1 . Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad and go to the Touch ID & Passcode section.
2 . Enter your passcode.
3 . Remove any added fingerprints. To do this, select each fingerprint and click Delete fingerprint.
4 . Click Add a fingerprint.
5 . Hold your iPhone or iPad the same way you normally hold the device before unlocking it.
6 . Go through the process of adding all five fingerprints this way:
- add your fingerprint twice Thumb right hand ;
- add your fingerprint twice Left thumb;
- add your fingerprint once Index finger right hand(if you are right-handed) or left hand (if you are left-handed).
The point of this operation is to add more fingerprints to the most used unlock option. 
The scheme we have proposed can be changed if desired. For example, if you always unlock the device with one hand, then it wouldn’t hurt to add Thumb 3, 4 or even all 5 possible fingerprints.
Try it now. In the vast majority of cases, this will solve the problem of poor Touch ID performance.
If after completing the procedure for adding fingerprints, the sensor still does not respond well, try rebooting the device. If the reboot does not help, then there are two options left - either you are the owner of hands with an abnormal fingerprint structure (we have met such users) or the problem is still in the Touch ID sensor itself.