Square Fix for iPhone 4

Posted on August 3, 2010 at 8:25 pm by Jerad Hill 5 Comments

If you have a Square card reader from squareup.com and an iPhone 4 then you have probably been a bit frustrated with it not working out to well. The problem is the metal to metal contact of the Square reader and the iPhone 4 metal antenna. Yes the antenna curse effects more then just your precious calls.

I ran into this issue in a real life instance of using my Square reader. I was trying to take a deposit from a wedding client today while sitting in Starbucks. I am pretty sure the whole store stood and watched as I swiped the card at least 30 times before deciding to slightly pull up on the attachment and try that. In the past with headphones on other devices I have had connections wear out and then work when I did this, so it was just a logical thing to try in my opinion. It worked! I was able to take my payment. Square is a much better option for me then Google Checkout or Paypal because of the lower rate Square offers when the card is swiped.

When I got home I decided to go online to see if anyone else had this issue, I found this post confirming my suspicions. I, like the commenter BikeHugger, did not like the suggested paper fix. I did not want to carry around a piece of paper or have to perform that fix in front of a client about to hand me their credit card for a large purchase. Knowing for sure that it was the metal to metal contact I went around my house looking for some sort of epoxy or clear resin I could apply to the base of the post on the Square card reader attachment. What you see in the video is what I came up with.

In this video I explain the process of applying a fix to this issue.

Items Needed:
*Finger Nail Polish Top Coat or Clear Epoxy (see below)
*Q-Tip (Not the rapper from A Tribe Called Quest silly)

Hope this helps you with your credit card processing-ness.

Update: After inserting the Square card reader into the iPhone 4 about 10 times the finger nail polish top coat wore off. I decided to take a trip to Orchard Supply to get something a little more durable. Elmers Epoxy is what I ended up using.

Link: Elmer’s E1009 1-Ounce Superfast Epoxy Cement

  • Frank

    I have a Square reader and iPhone 4 and haven’t experienced any issues with it at all. Not sure why not.

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  • Mitchell Huang

    This post saved my life. Thanks so much!

  • http://justinfreid.com Justin Freid

    Thanks for confirming the issue.
    When I first examined the reader, I was impressed that they built in the extra metal ring it to accommodate even pretty thick cases.
    When I began testing the reader’s functionality I couldn’t get it to work a single time. I searched Square’s support site and Google, and even watched the official instructional YouTube video which featured a Swedish translator and was shot in a parking garage.

    I didn’t find this site or Square’s explanation (http://j.mp/jvt0dF) until I thought more about the extra metal ring and added “interference with iPhone 4 antennae” to my Google searches.
    Considering that I started using Square nearly a year after your post, I think they should have included forewarning on the device’s packaging since they haven’t yet changed its design.

  • http://justinfreid.com Justin Freid

    Square support has just agreed to ship me an updated reader. Thanks guys.