And then Apple finally released a feature with iOS 14 that lets you unlock your iPhone with your Apple Watch, but not everyone has an Apple Watch and I don’t think everyone should go out and buy an Apple Watch just to get it. can unlock their iPhone with a mask.
But with iOS 15, this feature uses the area around your eyes to authenticate your face. So the setup is very simple. You enable it in your settings. You scan your face the way you normally would to find Face ID, and you don’t need to wear a mask to do so. And then you can also add glasses if you wear them, but again, since it requires seeing the eye area, it won’t work with sunglasses, which is important to note. So it must be able to see your eyes.
And the other thing is that I used it with the beta, and I would say it works pretty well, but you just have to remember to look directly at the camera for it to work properly. But yeah, it’s a pretty cool feature once you get used to just looking directly at the camera, otherwise it just won’t work.
MC: Can we talk about the great irony that this feature is being released just as masking missions in many parts of the country begin to lift?
BS: Yeah, it’s annoying because we all know this feature was possible two years before the start of the pandemic and the timing is hilarious because people probably won’t be using it much. I’m in New York, so I’ll continue to wear my mask. But yeah, I think now it’s like, thank you Apple but no thanks.
LG: Yes. I’m pretty used to reusing passwords, PINs. Every time I use Face ID, I’m like, yeah, I just want to tap it, hit the numbers, basically not using Face ID in any capacity these days.
MC: I think the pandemic is really a big roadblock for Face ID because I’ve been through this. I’m a Pixel user. I solved this when I switched to Pixel 4 just as the pandemic was starting and then it had face unlock and I was wearing a mask but it never worked and I will always have to. pull the mask down or just use the PIN to unlock the phone. And recently, I switched to the latest Pixel, ditching Google’s face unlock feature in favor of using an in-screen fingerprint reader.
LG: Fingerprints. Oh, the in-display fingerprint sensor is annoying.
MC: It really works fine.
LG: Oh okay.
MC: It works nine times out of 10.
LG: OH. I think you are the only one it works for.
MC: Well, it doesn’t work when my fingers are sweaty, but I’m basically happy to get rid of face unlock just because of the mask. And now that I live in a big city too, I will also continue to wear my mask, although I wear it less when outdoors, I still prefer the fingerprint sensor to the face unlock. .
