Square Credit Card Reader And iPhone 4 Don't Work Well Together

Imagine selling your wares at a Harvest Festival and not being able to accept credit card payments. One solution is presented by the Square credit card reader. Created by the San Francisco, California-based company of the same name, the Square device lets users accept credit card payments using their mobile devices and a required app. Unfortunately, Square doesn’t work with the iPhone 4. The reason? Apparently, the Square reader doesn’t work because the iPhone 4 uses a 3-part steel band that acts as an antenna. As a result, the reader can malfunction. It does work with older iPhones and the iPad. According to a blog post on Square’s website, users have reported that plugging the Square card reader into their iPhone 4 causes the following problems:

The app doesn't do anything or give any feedback when you swipe a card.

The app is giving swiping feedback when you are not swiping.

The app is flashing the dongle icon on and off.

The app causes Voice Control to pop up.

While the company looks for a long-term solution to this problem (which probably means a redesigned reader), they offer users a quick-fix. It involves using a piece of paper and lots of patience. The Square reader concept is great, but if it cannot work with Apple’s top selling product, it certainly is problematic. We will let you know when a long-term fixed is released. The universal Square app is available today in the App Store.

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