How to use Face ID to unlock iPhone while wearing a face mask – Guide
You’ve probably used FaceID with a mask to unlock your iPhone, and it’s not exactly a smooth experience. There have been times when FaceID doesn’t recognize your half-covered face, leaving users with the only option to manually enter the screen code or pull the mask down. Yes, it is possible to unlock your iPhone using a mask, but only if you have an Apple Watch. Apple is aware of the situation and will soon release iOS 15.4 in the next few days to allow iPhone owners to use Face ID even while wearing their masks. The iOS 15.4 beta, currently available to developers and public beta testers, allows FaceID to run smoothly without a watch if you’re wearing a mask. We show you how feature works on an iPhone 13 mini with iOS 15.4.
Use Face ID with Mask Setting in iOS 15.4
To use this new option, you will need iOS 15.4 installed. iOS 15.4 is currently in beta, so if you’re not a beta tester, you’ll have to wait until it’s released to the general public – hopefully in March or April. Alternatively, if you feel daring, you can sign up for the beta program. Read: How to get iOS beta. With iOS 15.4 installed, go to: Once activated, Face ID “will use the unique features around the eye area for authentication” instead of performing full facial recognition. There’s also an option to add glasses (which will be useful for glasses wearers!) Apple points out that Face ID is more accurate if the settings are disabled. Apparently Face ID unlocking on the mask only works on iPhone 12 or newer. Once we have a beta version, we will test the new function.
Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch
If you don’t have iOS 15.4 but have an Apple Watch, there is a solution if you don’t want to enter your passcode every time you need to unlock your iPhone using a mask. The Unlock with Apple Watch option, which arrived in iOS 14.5, means you can unlock your iPhone using a mask. The only requirement is that you will need an Apple Watch running watchOS 7.4b or later.
What will you need
How to unlock iPhone with Apple Watch
You need to enable Apple Watch Unlock feature on your iPhone. If your watch is not up until now, you will see a “Software Update Required” notice. Now, as long as the watch is on your wrist and unlocked when you try to unlock your iPhone with Face ID and the iPhone detects that you have a mask, it will unlock automatically. A message will appear on your watch to alert you to the fact that your iPhone is unlocked and indicating that you can lock it again. This is great feature as long as you have a watch. There are some other downsides though. If you expected this to mean you wouldn’t have to enter your passcode to use Apple Pay in stores, you’ll be disappointed: this method will unlock your iPhone, but there are some limitations to what you can do with it in this state – and one thing you don’t can do is pay using Apple Pay. Of course, if you’re using a watch, the sensible thing would be to pay using Apple Pay on your watch. When you have unlocked your iPhone this way, you will also not be able to access apps that must be unlocked securely, like your banking app. In that case, you will need to use Face ID unmasked or enter your password. These disadvantages are obviously advantages from a security point of view. This means that someone other than you could not have access to your finances. Apple implements some other security measures features for this service. For example, Face ID still scans the eye area and the iPhone and Watch need to be in close proximity. And of course, you also get a ringtone and see this message on your watch, allowing you to lock your iPhone again. This is all great if you have an Apple Watch, but what if you want to unlock your iPhone using a mask and you don’t have one?
How to disable face id
One option is to simply disable Face ID as a way to unlock your iPhone. Now your iPhone will require a passcode every time you need to unlock it or sign in to Apple Pay and so on.
How to set iPhone to unlock with a mask
Here we will share some tricks that will allow you to define up face recognition on your iPhone so that it recognizes you even with your face half covered by a mask. Before we run the steps, please note that we had to try this multiple times until we could set up Reliable facial recognition, but it is possible. (we have separated guide to use Face ID.)
method 1
method 2
Final note
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