Products · Pattern or everyday thing
Touch ID
Raised as a usability problem by 14 people on Hacker News over 13 years (2013–2025), in 14 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Fingerprint unlock fails with wet, dirty, gloved or clammy fingersUnreviewed
20132026- Fingerprint unlock fails with wet, dirty, gloved or clammy fingers2025-08-21
- Fails to unlock with gloves or wet fingers2019-09-10
- Fingerprint sensor often fails with oily hands, forcing passcode entry2018-06-23
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 15 complaints
- Fails with wet hands, gloves, or dry winter skin; awkward one-handed grip needed2025-12-08
- Home button is hard to use comfortably, so people use the floating software button instead2025-11-12
- Fingerprint unlock fails with wet, dirty, gloved or clammy fingers2025-08-21
- Never works for an elderly user whose fingerprints have faded2024-11-04
- Sudo needs an extra confirmation click before Touch ID, slower than Apple Watch login2022-06-15
- Pop-up doesn't take focus, so user must click it before Touch ID works, slowing sudo2022-06-15
- Having to lift fingers off the keyboard to authenticate interrupts typing flow2021-03-01
- Fails to unlock with gloves or wet fingers2019-09-10
- Touch ID sensor never works and password prompt hides password behind a button2019-04-20
- Fingerprint sensor often fails with oily hands, forcing passcode entry2018-06-23
- Fingerprint unlock becomes painful to use with gloves or soiled fingers2017-10-25
- Fails on sweaty fingers, forcing repeated home button presses before the PIN prompt appears2017-09-11
- Touch ID fails about nine times in ten for the commenter2016-12-28
- A strong password without Touch ID makes the device almost unusable2015-03-18
- Noticeable delay between screen turning on and returning to home screen after unlocking2013-10-14