iOS 14.5 will let you unlock your iPhone with an Apple Watch when wearing a face mask
Tom Sykes
Posted On 01/02/2021 
Apple on Monday released the first developer beta of iOS 14.5. With the update, Apple is adding a new way to unlock your iPhone with an Apple Watch when wearing a face mask.
As reported by Engadget, iOS 14.5 includes a new “Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch” feature. When a user is wearing a face mask, the iPhone will perform a Face ID scan as normal, but it will be able to detect whether or not a face covering is being worn. If so, the iPhone will verify as much of the user’s face as possible with the face mask on, then unlock the device based on if the user is wearing an Apple Watch which has been unlocked by a passcode.
When the iPhone has been unlocked using the new “Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch” feature, the user will receive a notification alerting them of the recent activity, with the option to then lock the device from their wrist.
The new feature won’t be turned on by default, but users will be able to enable it through the Settings app.
