Fingerprints/skin oil. I have actually wondered the same thing. My 29 year old son, who has very "oily" hands, has had terrible luck with TouchID (iPhone 5s, just bought an X). I have 100% success, but I'm 30 years older and honestly my skin has gotten pretty dry. So that might count for more than you think (i.e., more than local weather/climate). Or not, I haven't done any testing.
Interesting. Not to sound gross or anything, but I do have "oily" hands. I leave smudges and marks on screens so easily, my Apple Pencil is almost always just a tiny bit bit greasy, even though I wash my hands constantly. It's not something extreme, it's not like people avoid shaking my hand - it's just something I realized might be the case.
Not sure about the hands of my friends, but they are both artists and they using pencils and brushes and mice and use their hands constantly while working, in a way that may cause hands to sweat and fingers to be less "dry". Again, just speculation, I have no idea, really
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I don't know if you're responding to my mentioning that or not.
No, not you specifically. I was thinking about it in general, as I do know some people who like to use their phones while they are flat on the table. I can understand why this is so, and I'm not saying it's a silly way to use a phone, just that you can't biometrically unlock all phones when used this way (not just the X, but most popular Android phones as well) so I'm guessing we can all live with this.
The main point is that FaceID needs to be at a fairly specific angle and distance or it won't scan your face. Desktop use and undesired unlocks I can live with, but constantly having to fiddle with the phone so it can get just the right picture of me is not a useful step forward. OTOH, for the surprisingly large number of people who had bad experiences with TouchID, it's a big step forward.
I understand what you're saying. The reason I like Face ID so much is, probably, because I already held the phone in a way that makes it work every time. Seriously, I didn't change anything, I hold it like I normally would and it works. But it did occur to me that some people use it quite differently. For example, I listened to one ATP podcast where one of the guys (can't remember who) mentioned he uses the phone really close to his face and that can get Face ID to mess up.
However, I have to add that I was surprised how tolerant Face ID is when it comes to positioning. Just out of curiosity, have you tried turning off attention aware unlock? It heard it should work better with strange angles, at a small cost of extra security.
That's why I think I'm glad I'm not responsible for trying to make a commercial market happy here. There seem to be a good sized group who are going to be unhappy either way, though we have to remember that a forum like MR attracts a small number of users who are unusually vocal. Quite possibly the silent majority is happy either way.
True. Good design is hard, especially with products that are used by so many people. Still, I find it curious how people don't want to invest any effort into getting what they want from their devices. A lot of people here just "decided" they hate Face ID, I'm sure of that. And they never considered all the complexities of a design, never gave much thought of different people, different use cases, different problems to solve (like mine or your son's, where Touch ID fails so often). Every design comes with benefits and downsides - but we can try and see the positives before the negatives, because that - in my opinion - pushes the technology forward. Not here, though
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Still, whatever your views, you can be vocal and criticize and still produce a post that is enjoyable to read, even if you disagree - and your latest post proves that. I don't think anyone can read your post (the one I'm quoting here) and have a negative reaction, whether they agree or not. This is what MR forums lack, but I guess we both know the answer to that: "welcome to the Internet"
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That was the thinking of another thread (I don't have the link handy)
I wear glasses, I don't think that's it. I think it comes down to positioning, really. How you hold and use your phone.