Apple on Monday rolled out an update for the iPhone that supports a Face ID feature that lets users unlock their phone while wearing a mask.
With this update to iOS 15.4, you not only unlock your iPhone, but also to buy with Apple Pay and to authorize applications and passwords. Even when your mouth and nose are covered, your iPhone can now recognize you by analyzing the unique features around your eyes.
And the few reactions gleaned here and there to this new function of Face ID say that it is good, but too late. Sanitary measures are disappearing almost everywhere on the planet, so wearing a mask is likely to be a thing of the past.
After the update, users will receive a request asking if they want to use Face ID while wearing a mask, and then go through the process of scanning their face without wearing a mask. Users who don’t have Face ID will receive a request asking if they want to enable the feature.
Apple
With an Apple Watch, it is possible to unlock your iPhone
The other method with your Apple Watch
Prior to this update, the only way to unlock iPhones with Face ID and a mask required a montre Apple Watch. Once enabled, Apple Watch users wake up their iPhone and then glance at the screen to unlock it.
For this update to work, an iPhone 12 or newer phone is required.
You can access this update by going to the Settings app > General > Software update.
To turn Face ID on or off, go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode, then tap Unlock iPhone or Unlock iPad. Further down, swipe the Face ID slider with a mask.
The update brings several other improvements and fixes, on the Siri voice interface, new translated languages in Safari, emergency calls, synchronization of photos and videos with the iCloud Photo library, as well as the usual updates of security.
iPhones compatible with Face ID and a mask:
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12
How to use Face ID on your iPhone explained at Apple Canada website.
