The iPhone’s Face ID breaks down if we wear a face mask, but Apple has found a possible solution to the problem.
Performing facial recognition with a face mask is not only complex but, in some cases, even impossible. Or at least it has been so far, as Apple would have found the solution to unlock the iPhone with Face ID without having to remove the medical device or enter your own unlock code on the smartphone.
With the arrival of the terrible coronavirus pandemic, unlocking the smartphone via face recognition has become a nightmare for many. In fact, in addition to slowing down operations, the removal of the protective mask represents a real health risk, especially in the most critical situations such as during a payment in a supermarket or the need to access the contents of your smartphone on public transport. The introduction of a new mode of unlocking by Apple represents, therefore, a viable alternative that can mediate between health safety and the need and desire to continue to use your smartphone as before the pandemic era.
Apple, how the new FaceID works
Apple’s solution to unlocking with the faceplate is part of the features present in the beta version of the release 14.5 of iOS, as shown by American journalist Joanna Stern. To perform the operation, the Apple Phone takes advantage of the presence of the Apple Watch around the device, similarly to what already happens with MacBooks.
In this case, once the presence of the smartwatch is detected, the system provides access to the laptop without requiring the input of a password or the use, where integrated, of Touch ID. The same would happen with the Apple smartphone.
The feature, however, would be limited to unlocking the screen of the phone. Unlike authentication via Face ID, the one carried out via Apple Watch would not allow to enable other features, one of all the approval of transactions made via Wallet. In this case, in fact, the use of facial recognition or the insertion of the numeric code remains firm.
Apple FaceID, good the second?
This is not the first attempt by Apple to adapt its facial recognition technique in covid phase. In fact, already with the release 13.5 of its operating system has included a modest change in an attempt to speed up the time needed to unlock your device.
All is based on the detection of the mask on the face: once recognized, iPhone will skip the recognition phase via Face ID, showing directly the screen for entering the numerical code for unlocking. In this way, you can save a few seconds, those needed to activate the face recognition method that, in any case, could not perform its primary task.
The new methodology, however, appears even faster, since it does not even require the time of the handful of taps needed to enter your code. So all that’s left to do is wait and see what the benefits of Apple’s new feature will be.