While some may be shocked to find this out, especially because I was the original founder of thedroidguy.com back in 2006, but I’ve actually always carrier an iPhone as well. While running full throttle as Thedroidguy it was always important to have an iPhone for comparison purposes. In the Spring of 2011 when we sold Thedroidguy I immediately switched to the iPhone full time. The reasoning is fit for a separate, and probably longer post.

That’s why when the iPhone 5S came around I was of course one of the first people in line to get one. I’ve always been an early adopter and as a full time tech journalist I’m a Day Oner in most cases.

Truth be told I don’t take a lot of pictures worth saving for a long time on my iPhone. I have a Nikon D7000 that works just great for that. So the biggest attraction for the iPhone 5S, at least for me, was TouchID. There’s a safety attraction to being able to open your phone with your thumb. Of course there’s a layer of security as well.

Well, like many iPhone 5S power users, about two months into this TouchID adventure, it quit working as frequently as when I first got the phone. Four months into it and I had just about abandoned TouchID for my normal four digit code. I actually had noticed I could input the four digit code quicker than my thumb could be recognized. After all I had been doing that for the previous 4 iterations.

Well now there’s a fix.

The fix is the update to iOS 7.1.

I’m actually pretty cautious when it’s time to update software. As Thedroidguy I had been burned one too many times on a flawed OS update so I pretty much waited, and waited before updating. I also had a really bad experience with a Word Press update two years ago which again made me cautious of updates. Oh and I’m still running Mac OS Mountain Lion.

Normally I wait for the next update after the new update and go a generation behind. However Business Insider pointed out over the weekend, that the iOS 7.1 update would fix my TouchID problem. So after pinging a few journalist friends of mine who I knew would have taken the update on day 1, I went ahead and took the plunge.

Needless to say TouchID works like a charm.

I’m not sure what they did to it. I’m also not sure if we’re going to go through the same degradation in a few months, but for right now TouchID is working the way they described it in the Apple press conference last September.

Many iOS 7 users have also complained about random restart issues and “the white screen of death” this update is supposed to cure that as well. Kyle Russell over at Business Insider has the rest of the update notes.