How accurate is the iPhone 5s' fingerprint scanner?

My friend used his dog's paw print. It worked... You must be signed in to read this answer.Connected to GoogleConnected to FacebookBy continuing you indicate that you have read and agree to the .  Loading account...Complete Your ProfileFull NameChecking...EmailChecking...PasswordChecking...By creating an account you indicate that you have read and agree to the .

The link below will give the answer to this question. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OFW6Va1m5k&feature=youtu.be

Even your cat won't have any problem using it! http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/19/watch-a-cat-unlock-the-iphone-5s-using-touch-id-and-the-fingerprint-sensor/

Yes it's accurate.Right now you can use the Touch ID fingerprint sc...

Very Accurate.  However no technology is 100% perfect.  It will fail at times and it will be circumvented.  But from a practical perspective this will not be a paramount issue. Early Vision Matters When Apple acquired AuthenTec, they got the foundational patents for the most advanced fingerprint scanner designs. This is why Apple moved very quickly to acquire the company as it would be certain that once other companies in a position to understand and act on just how important this technology is, there would be a bidding war.  This move was visionary and I spoke to this in detail here: Sub-Epidermal Scanning For The Highest Accuracy Touch ID has about 500 PPI resolution of scanning.  This is about 30% more powerful then some of the best prior AuthenTec devices.  This level of resolution combined with the frequency range of the device, beyond the visual range and into infra-red and low ultra violet, a very high degree of accuracy can be attained.  The system actually scans quite deep into the sub-epidermal layers of the skin.  At these layer levels the contrast of ridges of the fingerprint is far more defined.  The dry skin of the highest layers suffer from far less accuracy as these areas are transitory and can change on an hourly basis. Amazing Algorithms Touch ID has a rather amazing algorithm that very quickly categorizes the fingerprint into the three basic grouping types and they do fine detail analyses on the ridges.  It is important to note that finger injuries can produce profound changes down to the sub-dermal layers.  This will change your fingerprint in a meaningful way.  The beauty of the AuthenTec patents is that the system can dynamically inform the changes to the information in the Secure Enclave.  Example of the major fingerprint grouping types. The really magical part of the AuthenTec patents, and frankly one of the many reasons Apple acquired the company is the ability to read the fingerprint, once learned by the system from a 360 degree position around the sensor.  This really solves a great deal of misreads that legacy devices suffered from. Example of the Touch ID learning screen. Touch ID allows you to set up the system in a very minimal fashion and over time it will continue to learn your fingerprint.  This system also allows for any number of fingers to be used simultaneously as an unlock activation. One can also take time to train Touch ID over about a 5 minute period to have maximum accuracy.  This will actually shorten as more people use the system. Creep Alert: Dead Fingers AuthenTec spent a great deal of time building scanner technology that would have nearly 100% certification that the finger that is being scanned is in fact alive.  There are about 20 major points one could use to assure this.  Apple has not, nor do I think they will, speak to the exact system they use.  But I am very certain that a dead finger or a simulated fingerprint will do nothing to unlock the device. No system of security is 100% perfect.  With enough time and technology it can be circumvented.  I wrote or this here: https://acceptingpayments.quora.com/Claim-Apple-Touch-ID-Circumvented Example Illustrating the Secure Enclave. Touch ID:  Data are locally encrypted and never leaves your iPhone Touch ID is using a new Secure Enclave as part of the A7 processor.   The data generated by Touch ID are encrypted and stored in this area but never sent over the Internet or to iCloud.  The Secure Enclave is a genius move by Apple as it fully discounts many fears that our fingerprints will be sent around the world. In addition,  the Secure Enclave will play a central point in Apple’s payment strategy.  This is a hardwired connection that assures that the data can not be intercepted by other processes operating in the iOS device. I have written extensively about the Secure Enclave here: Additional Security To use Touch ID you will also have to create a passcode as a backup. Only that passcode can unlock the phone if the phone is either rebooted (example full battery drain) or hasn’t been unlocked for 48 hours. This is a genius feature that is meant to set a time limit for criminals if they try to find a way to circumvent the fingerprint scanner. The Most Accurate Practical Authentication System In The World Thus in Touch ID we have one of the most accurate fingerprint sensors in the world.  There are no other systems that have all of these features.  There may be an argument that statistically, with a few billion people, about a dozen people may have the same fingerprint read on the current Touch ID system, but these odds are even far lower when you factor in reality. There will never be 100% security and there never can be 100% accuracy, but it is really not needed. Not only is Touch ID is one of the best authentication systems on a mobile device, it is one of the best practical authentication systems to be found.

Now, here comes the bummer (although this is not a direct answer to the question, I think it is worth a mention here): A team of German Hackers (Computer Chaos Club) have reported to bypass the fingerprint reader, by: 1) Taking a very high-res pic of a fingerprint left on a glass surface (with graphite powder or cyanoacrylate to accentuate the print) 2) Use image editing to clean and revert the image 3) High-res printout on a transparent sheet 4) Pink latex milk or white wood glue is added and allowed to dry. 5) Stick it to your finger and presto!, you are ready to fool the fingerprint scanner. Some thoughts: You require a 2400 dpi printout, and an exceptionally good print, not possible always Even most door locks can be cracked with persistence For average users, this level of security is probably enough (Again, a very subjective point) Sources: 1) http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/09/chaos-computer-club-hackers-trick-apples-touchid-security-feature/ (Ars Technica) 2) http://dasalte.ccc.de/biometrie/fingerabdruck_kopieren?language=en (Chaos Computer Club - Germany) 3) http://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2013/ccc-breaks-apple-touchid (Chaos Computer Club - Germany) 4) http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/22/apples-touch-id-already-bypassed-with-established-fake-finger-technique (AppleInsider)

It is accurate, and you can increase its accuracy through training. Rather than the theory of how it works and what the attack vectors are, which has all been well covered already, here's how you can train it quickly for a high success rate. Go into Settings -> Touch ID & Passcode For any fingers already trained, you'll see entries for them. Placing one of these trained fingers on the Touch ID sensor will cause its entry to highlight in gray. The good news is, this isn't just informational. Touching the Touch ID sensor on this screen will also actually further train the digit in question. Simply move the finger around for each press, covering more and different area on the fingerprint each time. You can train it so any finger is well recognized from fingertip down towards the distal joint, as well as a wide range side-to-side.

By the time i pullout my iphone 5s from my trouser pocket its already unlocked  before i look at screen(98% chance). FYI :Most cases you will hold it with thumb on one side & four fingers on otherside of phone and phone is upside down in your pocket.

Accurate until someone decided to use a fingerprint of the phone user, photographed from a glass surface, which was enough to create a fake finger that could unlock an iPhone 5s secured with TouchID. See this YouTube video: Here's how they did so: First, the fingerprint of the enroled user is photographed with 2400 dpi resolution. The resulting image is then cleaned up, inverted and laser printed with 1200 dpi onto transparent sheet with a thick toner setting. Finally, pink latex milk or white woodglue is smeared into the pattern created by the toner onto the transparent sheet. After it cures, the thin latex sheet is lifted from the sheet, breathed on to make it a tiny bit moist and then placed onto the sensor to unlock the phone. This process has been used with minor refinements and variations against the vast majority of fingerprint sensors on the market.