Apple's Face ID Feature Works With Most Sunglasses, Can Be Quickly Disabled to Thwart Thieves

[iReality85]

Yeah... These "the sky is falling" what-ifs about FaceId remind me of when TouchId was introduced a few years ago.

Yeah, yeah, but what if, you know, some criminal were to accost you, take your iPhone, and then cut off your thumb with a knife to unlock your phone? What then Apple???

Dollars to donuts that didn't happen even once. People here get so hysterically ridiculous coming up with these insane what-ifs.

I have nothing against the technology behind FaceID, but it's implementation does bring up real concerns. The difference between Passcode, TouchID, and FaceID is that Passcode and TouchID require user interaction by actually physically holding the phone. FaceID doesn't.

As evidenced by this official promotional photo of FaceID. That's a huge security flaw. It's worth being concerned about.

 

[the future]

I still don't see any real benefit over Touch ID.

They've replaced it with something that's more convenient in some and less convenient in other ways, works slower and has more potential of someone else unlocking it against your will.

Not saying Face ID sucks, but shouldn't the new thing be significantly better and not just different and for many people even worse?

It enables a screen (almost) without bezels. Is that benefit not real enough for you?

Also, it's said to be more secure. Not bad for a, you know, security feature.

Also, you don't know yet if it's slower. And even if it is, TouchID was also slower at first. Apple will iterate until it's basically instantaneous (if it isn't already). It's what they do.

 

[Mtmspa]

All these innovations - I'm surprised Apple doesn't offer a robust multi-factor authentication feature for the paranoid. FaceID/TouchID + passphrase. As a failsafe, passphrase + token code sent to another device.

Another device? Nope.

 

[macass]

Apple expects the consumer to remain calm and not look at the phone while it's being stolen. I hope I won't do it wrong.

Oh my God what will I do if a thief points a Gun at my head and makes me put in my personal id number in my phone. Get down on my knees and punch those numbers in as fast as I can. I tell you passwords are a deal breaker for me. What jack ass questions!

 

[shanson27]

Can I scan the face of my dog to unlock the phone

 

[Jbusick7944]

No, it require eye contact. Unless you sleep with your eyes open, it’s not a problem.

Touch ID would be way easier to use while you are asleep.

 

[Mtmspa]

I have nothing against the technology behind FaceID, but it's implementation does bring up real concerns. The difference between Passcode, TouchID, and FaceID is that Passcode and TouchID require user interaction by actually physically holding the phone. FaceID doesn't.



As evidenced by this official promotional photo of FaceID. That's a huge security flaw. It's worth being concerned about.

Yeah cuz I could look at my phone and a bad guy could run by and grab? Is that your concern or are you just a jealous Samsung user?

 

[Jbusick7944]

Craig seems like a nice guy.

 

[kstotlani]

The type of people who care deeply about privacy, security, and freedom. The people who say "If you've got nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." are setting themselves up for a future where every single thing we do is monitored and available for public scrutiny. I don't fancy the government being up in my business 24/7. My only offense is a single speeding ticket many years ago because my narcissistic mother stole my car (paid for myself) to run errands before I left home for college orientation and I was trying my best to turn over a new leaf and start a new life for myself outside of their unhealthy influence. The future is only bright if we make it bright. If we sit on the sidelines we get what we deserve. But my children don't deserve it, so I fight for them. Nothing is guaranteed, and there are many people out there in positions of power who would take away our freedom if given the opportunity. Look no further than illegal searches at checkpoints within 100 miles of the US border to see the kind of atrocities that Americans have to suffer. I don't want my daughter to suffer vaginal exams by male officers as some of these women have had to endure. Freedom is always on the verge of being snuffed out—never forget that. It is delicate, and valuable, and therefore must be treated with respect.

I was only joking but I understand your concern. I am from India and lived in the US for a decade. When I first arrived, I had no idea why privacy was such a big issue, why people hated government intervention in things etc. It took me a while to understand how even a first world government can use its powers to manipulate things especially elections in their favor using data gathering, creating new county borders etc. As India started to do well at least in parts we have started to pay more attention to personal rights/freedom in its basic sense.

 

[Mtmspa]

Can I scan the face of my dog to unlock the phone

Do you look like a dog?

 

[PlainviewX]

Did you even read the article?

No.

 

[AZ63]

You must’ve never got out of the pool or had messy hands and had to use your wet hands on touch ID

I think this would be covered in the previous comment you responded to that in some ways it is more convenient and in other ways it is less convenient. In a spirit of both sides you must never have been sitting in a meeting, received a message and unlocked your phone with Touch ID, while still in your pocket, and slide it out just far enough to know whether or not you need to immediately respond or not and then slide it back into your pocket. This use case is gone with FaceID. This type of peek-a-boo use will be a thing of the past. Just think of all the "considerate" people in movie theaters that have no regard for others and use the peek-a-boo method. Do you really think they won't pull the phone all the way out to use FaceID to see their "all important" missive? IMO TouchID is, generally, more convenient than FaceID.

 

[PlainviewX]

And this, dear friends, is how FUD is spread, one ignorant comment after another.

Absolutely and I owned up to my laziness.

 

[filmantopia]

So then it can easily be used while sleeping. It can easily be used by cops.

You have to give it your attention for it to work, so no.

 

[iReality85]

Yeah cuz I could look at my phone and a bad guy could run by and grab? Is that your concern or are you just a jealous Samsung user?

I've never owned any smartphone besides an iPhone, you can chill with the insults.

 

[ksnell]

Thanks for the sympathy. Both incidents happened abroad when I was walking home from work at night. Took a shortcut through a park, shouldn't have done that. The second time was a bit more complicated, but lessons were learned that night as well.

And yeah, a gun would be out of the question here. My main tactic of self defence is to impersonate a homeless person, right down to the smell. Works like a charm thus far!

And lastly, you are correct. Insurance will cover the goods lost to the robber most of the time. My life, not so much.

I agree with all of that except the middle bit, but in my neck of the woods carrying a firearm for self protection is no big deal. People are less likely to rob one another when they know the victim might put a couple holes through them.

 

[PlainviewX]

You have to give it your attention for it to work, so no.

What about people with ADD?

 

[Yinmay]

I still don't see any real benefit over Touch ID.

They've replaced it with something that's more convenient in some and less convenient in other ways, works slower and has more potential of someone else unlocking it against your will.

Not saying Face ID sucks, but shouldn't the new thing be significantly better and not just different and for many people even worse?

Made the phone smaller. They could fit a screen that's bigger than the Plus in a smaller form factor.

Where I agree is that they could have put a finger scanner on the back like many Android devices and saved themselves the hassle of developing Face ID. I believe it would also have made the top notch smaller.

 

[AZ63]

I hope Apple still tries to incorporate Touch ID under the screen so it doesn't go away. That was a big rumor here, Apple was having problems getting Touch ID to work under the screen and it was discussed widely about Apple putting the sensor on the back like some Android phones. Time will tell.

 

[i hate phones]

Ok so thief steals your phone and flashes it in front of your face to unlock it before running off...

They still need your face to make purchases with apple pay...
They still need your apple ID password to log out (turn off find my iphone) to restore it and remove icloud lock...
Most banking apps require password or touchid/faceid to log in...

so they can play games, read your emails, call/text your friends, surf the internet until they accidentally stop long enough for the phone to lock?

now if apple would just create a password protected photo album for everyone to hide their dick picks...

I'm sure I'm missing stuff, but those are the concerns that first come to my mind...

 

[phobos512]

Why dont they mention that stuff at the keynote to avoid crique in the first place? Such details are what we want to hear!

Because the people arguing on forums are the only people who care, and they only have so long on stage.

 

[BvizioN]

So then it can easily be used while sleeping. It can easily be used by cops.

It really helps if you read the article.

 

[sulpfiction]

I still don't see any real benefit over Touch ID.

They've replaced it with something that's more convenient in some and less convenient in other ways, works slower and has more potential of someone else unlocking it against your will.

Not saying Face ID sucks, but shouldn't the new thing be significantly better and not just different and for many people even worse?

Who says it's actually slower? Real world testing will answer that question. Cant really judge the speed from the demos we've seen. I've been keeping track of what I do when I pick up my 7 and I almost always look at the screen when I pick it up to unlock. So in the time it takes to adjust my grip and put my thumb on the sensor i'm thinking Face ID might have already unlocked it. But we'll see. And just like Touch ID it will get much faster with updates. I love Touch ID. It works flawlessly. But i'm willing to give Face ID it's fair chance.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

I guess you can't use touch ID either, since you likely are still wearing your welding gloves too... you need a Motorola Flip Phone, apparently...

Look buddy, I didn’t come here for your sarcasm. I just need a powerful tool that helps me do my job more efficiently.

 

[macTW]

Right... it is of course "the best security we've ever included in an iPhone", because they have no choice but to say that since its the only one. Better would have been including both until this was proven.



That is the one use case where FaceID will be better... in a dozen or so other use cases it will be way worse. Both would have been the correct way to go.



Did you watch the keynote. It was clearly slower, after the face was in front of the phone. But worse than that, with TouchID, you can unlock it while you are pulling it out of your purse or pocket so its unlocked long before you'd have the thing up in front of your face.

And that improved potential to block unwanted access is going to in real terms be way more false fails. I predict there will be a huge increase in cases where a pin is needed. And for what? I haven't heard anyone complain about TouchID being too easy and having their phone broken into. If its 1:50,000, that would mean you'd need to be in a group of 100K or so people randomly trying to break into your phone ... and long before that happened you'd reach the 5 fails.

The bottom line is TouchID wasn't broken, and they chose to replace it with something that is not is good in way more scenarios than the ones where it is better. They should have put both into the X and we'd all then agree its better.

You speak of opinion as if it's fact. I respect your opinion on liking Touch ID more but facts prove you wrong on why. Good day.