Face ID is great. It’s quick, simple and reliable… as long as you’re not wearing a face mask.
With more people now than ever wearing protective face masks amid the global spread of COVID-19, Apple has revealed within its latest iOS 13.5 beta that it is improving the way you unlock your iPhone or iPad while using a mask, with the device soon to recognise when your face is covered.
If you try to unlock your device today while wearing a mask, chances are it will fail. That’s because the combination of invisible light projectors and sensors that power Face ID can’t accurately map your face.
With iOS 13.5, when an iPhone or iPad detects a user’s face is covered, it will quickly show the passcode option, allowing for a numerical or alphabetical password to be entered to unlock the device.
Passcodes are certainly nothing new, nor is the ability to type your password on the lock screen rather than using Face ID however, iOS 13.5 will make the experience a lot more streamlined.
Previously, the device would attempt to unlock using Face ID first, with a couple of seconds delay prior to the passcode interface being shown. Now, Apple is removing this delay, making the task of manually typing a passcode less cumbersome.
Apple will be releasing iOS 13.5 in the coming weeks. Today’s beta release also saw Apple roll-out the first version of its exposure notification API for COVID-19 contact tracing.