iPhone with Touch ID hit by another bug after latest update

Oct 1, 2019 09:49 GMT  ·  By

Apple has apparently entered an update frenzy lately, with so many software updates released in the last few days, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that the company managed to squash all bugs.

One of the issues that escaped unfixed concerns iPhones with Touch ID and updated to iOS 13.

According to a report from 9to5mac, owners of these iPhones can no longer authenticate in a series of apps using their fingerprint. The issue appears to be related to the Touch ID API, which got broken down after installing the latest iOS major release.

The prompt to scan the fingerprint when launching apps like mobile banking or even password managers no longer shows up, albeit by the looks of things, it is triggered and running in the background.

The bug occurs on iOS 13 through iOS 13.1.1 and does not affect iPhone models with Face ID, like iPhone X and iPhone 11.

How to “fix” the bug

Mobile banking apps are the ones most affected by the bug, as Touch ID authentication is often required to sign in, but other apps could be hit as well, including password managers and clients that come with fingerprint protection.

While Apple is yet to acknowledge the bug, a fix already exists. Users who encounter the bug and no longer see the Touch ID prompt can still touch the fingerprint sensor with the registered finger to sign in. Because the prompt is there running in the background, the scanning should work as expected, even though nothing is shown on the screen.

As per the aforementioned source, in some cases shaking the iPhone (I know, right?) could temporarily fix the problem as well.

It remains to be seen how fast Apple fixes this one, but given the update release pace lately, a new patch should land any day now.