iOS 7.0.1 fixes iPhone 5s Touch ID issue

Touch ID hardware

As new iPhones launch today, Apple has flipped the switch on an iOS 7 0.1 update to fix a minor issue with the iPhone 5s’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor while delivering “bug fixes and improvements”. The maintenance firmware update is exclusive to the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c and users will be prompted to install it upon booting up their brand spanking new device. The software isn’t available for iPhones other than the new ones. I’ve included additional tidbits after the jump..

It’s available both as an over-the-air update via Settings > General > Software Update or through iTunes when connected to a Mac or PC running the newly released iTunes 11.1.

Reviewers noted that iOS 7 on the iPhone 5s would sometimes insist on authorizing iTunes purchases using an Apple ID even after the user’s print was successfully recognized.

Walt Mossberg, the outgoing Wall Street Journal technology columnist (you haven’t heard?), made note of the bug in his iPhone 5s review:

There is one bug in the system: Sometimes, while trying to use a finger to authenticate an online purchase, the phone asks for a password. Apple says it expects to fix this bug very quickly.

As for iOS 7 itself, people have discovered a minor vulnerability that lets attackers bypass a user’s Lock screen using a sequence of touches to gain access to a number of apps that contain personal data like photos, email, text messages and more.

Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller said that Apple is “aware of this issue, and will deliver a fix in a future software update”.

The iOS 7.0.1 update is already out (your download links are right here) so we expect any fix for the Lock screen issue to likely come in iOS 7.0.2 or later. Web logs have suggested that Apple has been testing iOS 7.0.2 and iOS 7.1 for some time so it shouldn’t be too long.