Slow to Connect "Reader Connecting" Contactless and Chip Reader iOS 14

[TTS1]

I've upgraded to iOS 14 and I'm finding the contactless reader is much slower to connect after you've put the Square POS app in the background. I know the reader "sleeps" after a while, but what I'm seeing since updating to iOS 14 and the latest version of the Square app is that it takes roughly 12 seconds to reconnect now. Previously it connected in 4-6 seconds. I've replicated this problem on multiple iPads, and multiple contactless readers. I've tried all the obvious stuff. Hard reset of the reader, clean iOS install, repairing bluetooth etc.

[Joe · Accepted solution]

Hi @TTS1 👋 Thanks for reaching out to us here on the Seller Community. Good to hear from you again!

So sorry to hear about this continued trouble with your TTS1 - this sounds very strange, indeed. The troubleshooting you've mentioned above is exactly what we would suggest here, as well as what is listed in some of our helpful resources. 

If none of these steps seem to be working for you, we would recommend flagging this over to our Support Team directly. They should be able to work with you in order to get this solved.

We will keep an eye out for your contact!

[TTS1]

I have contacted support. But, I'm unable to get a definitive response back from support.  I have been bench testing multiple sets of hardware for weeks and this is clearly a bug. In addition, I know another user, a high level programmer, in a different city, with different hardware, on a different Square account and he's having the same problems. We are are a large user, doing a major volume of charges. And, this is causing us major problems.  It would be great if support could come back to us with a status update.

[Joe]

Hi again, @TTS1 - thanks for reaching back out! Would you mind clarifying what you mean in terms of your response from Support? Looking for insight on where you landed with them in regards to how their answer was not definitive.

We have had no other reports regarding this type of issues with he Contactless & Chip Card reader, so it is hard for us to take a deeper dive if no wide-spread issues have been reported.

Did you speak to Support directly via phone?

[TTS1]

Yes, I spoke to support by phone and have had limited follow up by email. In addition the support rep did provide me with a case number. 

in addition, it would seem wildly unlikely that no other sellers have reported such an obvious bug. 

[Joe]

Got it - I would recommend reaching back out to Support directly to retrieve your case numner, @TTS1. Support can make sure this gets resolved for you.

General troubleshooting and various issues regarding readers are common. What is not common is wide-spread outages being reported concerning a specific piece of hardware. Almost always, these outstanding connectivity issues can be traced back to pending software updates for either the app or the device itself. My reference to reporting was in regard to wide-spread outages.

Support will keep an eye out for your contact!

[TTS1]

Respectfully, I do have a case number, and previous to posting in the seller community, I did reach out back to support on multiple occasions. My hope was that by posting this, it would help get this case escalated. Possibly you could assist with that?

[Joe]

Got it, @TTS1 - unfortunately, we can't track down your specific case due to the Seller Community being a public-facing platform. Account specific info is off limits for us here.

Did you reach out to Support via phone or email? Where did you land with them?

[TTS1]

My history with support is as follows:

1. I called support, received a case number and was promised a confirmation email. 

2. After never receiving the confirmation email I called support a second time and was told that the case number I was supplied with relates to an entirely different seller with an unrelated problem. I was then given a new case number and did receive a follow up email confirming that my case had been sent to engineering. 

3. After a few days I replied to the confirmation email requesting a status update and received a request for additional information and I responded to that request immediately. 

4. After another few days I emailed requesting a status update and never received a response. 

[Joe]

Got it. It may take some time as we work through our volume of email cases, but you can be sure that we will reply to you soon. We appreciate your patience.

I would recommend calling in once more so we can confirm an update for you.

[MassageLC]

We have the same issue.  Our massage clinic uses the Square Stand and checking out credit card payments is extremely slow and embarrassing.   

What is the status of fixing this bug?

[nika]

Hi @MassageLC. I don't believe this was ever a "bug" based off of previous comments. We didn't receive a large volume of connectivity issues. 

Did you try the troubleshooting steps that Joe listed? Slow connectivity is typically related to internet issues. I would also try resetting your internet.

If you're still having trouble, definitely reach out to our CS team.

[Lesum]

Having the same issues. Reader has to reconnect every single time, taking 20 or so seconds. Didn’t used to do this. Has anyone found a fix?

[_Violet]

Hi @Lesum - I'm sorry to hear that this issue with your Contactless + Chip Reader has brought you to the Seller Community.

I suggest starting out with the troubleshooting steps for your reader listed here. If this doesn't improve things, please reach out to Support directly by logging into your Square account and heading here for further assistance.