Other Face ID vs Touch ID

[Raist3001]

I think you can break it down a few ways:

• Speed - Face ID is definitely slower than the 2nd gen Touch ID, which was scary fast. But it’s a little faster than the 1st gen Touch ID sensor, so it’s not bad. The fact that it starts the scan even before you swipe up to unlock does help hide the slower speed a bit.
• Accuracy - I’d say the two are roughly on par here under ideal conditions. Touch ID may be a hair more accurate, but the difference is not great enough that I care. However, having to hold the phone in a certain way for Face ID is a significant limitation that can lead to many more failed attempts than with Touch ID.
• Ergomomics - This is the one area where Touch ID is clearly superior. Face ID only works if you are holding the phone at the correct angle, in the correct orientation, the correct distance from your face, and actively looking at it. Compare that to Touch ID, where I could unlock my phone on a desk without picking it up or even while it was upside down in my pocket if I wanted to. You can argue that these differences don’t matter that much (I don’t think they do). But I think it’s hard to make the case that Face ID isn’t a step back in this area.
• Fringe Scenarios - Each technology has certain “fringe” use cases where it breaks down. The obvious ones for Touch ID are when your hands are dirty or when you are wearing gloves. For Face ID, it won’t work when you’re wearing a mask or scarf over your face. But it also has trouble with extreme lighting or when you are holding the phone at an odd angle. I’ve all but given up trying to use Face ID when I’m laying in bed because it misses around 75% of the time. I use my phone in bed quite a bit more often than I wear gloves so I find Face ID’s limitations to be more annoying. How you see that difference probably depends on the climate where you live though.

Overall, I’d give the edge to Touch ID. But, the difference isn’t big enough that I wouldn’t use a Face ID phone because of it. On the flip side though, Face ID is not enough to keep me on the iPhone X if something else I like better comes along. I’d probably jump to an SE 2 if one ever materializes even if it still has Touch ID.

These are excellent points. I agree with all of them.

 

[mjschabow]

Agreed. When FaceID worked I loved it. But it failed so often i would end up needing to use my passcode instead. So I'm back to a TouchID phone now.

With that said, everything else about the iPhone X is amazing so although I enjoy Touch ID perhaps a little more, it wasn’t enough to switch back.

 

[PsychicRutabaga]

I bought an 8 for this reason over the X.

That's my plan now as well. I've kept my 6 going for over 3 years but finally cracked the screen. I'm back on my old 5 at the moment (which is surprisingly snappy for a 5 year old phone), but I do miss the convenience of touch ID. Given that the rumor mill suggests this will be the last home button/touch ID based phone, I'm planning to get an 8 or 8+ and keep it for the next several years.

 

[Gandek]

Touch ID we use our phone with our fingers simple as that. Hopefully in display fingerprint readers make it or i'l be disappointed.

 

[eyoungren]

Hopefully in display fingerprint readers make it or i'l be disappointed.

This keeps coming up for some strange reason. Let me destroy all your hope.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/31/review-the-iphone-x-goes-to-disneyland/

“I heard some rumor [that] we couldn’t get Touch ID to work through the glass so we had to remove that,” Riccio says, answering a question about whether there were late design changes. “When we hit early line of sight on getting Face ID to be [as] good as it was, we knew that if we could be successful we could enable the product that we wanted to go off and do and if that’s true it could be something that we could burn the bridges and be all in with. This is assuming it was a better solution. And that’s what we did. So we spent no time looking at fingerprints on the back or through the glass or on the side because if we did those things, which would be a last-minute change, they would be a distraction relative to enabling the more important thing that we were trying to achieve, which was Face ID done in a high-quality way.”

This is a direct quote from Apple SVP of Hardware Engineering Dan Riccio.
Emphasis mine.

Kiss TouchID goodybye. It's done and it's not coming back.

 

[44267547]

https://www.cultofmac.com/301735/cops-can-force-use-touch-id-passcode/

A few concerns with that article you linked that I would like to explain:

1.) Law-enforcement constitutionally cannot force someone to unlock the phone, period. Consent is entirely different. Any reasonable and sound LE officer would obtain a search warrant and _then_ access the contents inside the phone through sources which will grant access. Otherwise, its considered an unlawful search and seizure, which would be a violation of the fourth amendment and would result in a major law suit.

2.) The article you linked was a ruled by a *local* circuit judge out of Virginia, it in fact was _not_ passed by the Supreme Court constitutionally as a ruling of what someone has to obide by. In another words, that ruling specifically does not apply to every jurisdiction, state or law pertaining to unlock someone’s phone. Again, there are circumstantial situations where L.E. can access the phone under exigent circumstances only without a warrant, thus would have to be clearly articulated why the accessed the contents to the phone without obtaining a validated warrant for face ID or touch ID.

 

[inkahauts]

I doubt I’ll ever buy anything without Face ID again. Touch ID is no where near as good... Face ID just doesn’t fail for me. If My hands are too dry or wet Touch ID is worthless...

I know several people who can not get Touch ID to work half the time or more and are always redoing their fingers. They got x’s and haven’t had to redo their face once and it just works always.

Not enough speed difference to ever worry about it for me.

And since I don’t worry about police demanding access to my phone I don’t care about that either...

 

[nia820]

I would like to have both options. That's one thing I miss from the note 8. I used face unlock , but other times I used fingerprint unlock ( especially when I'm lying in bed)

 

[Radon87000]

For me FaceID definitely has a higher fail rate than TouchID especially in the dark.

 

[Manatlt]

I'll deeply miss Touch ID. I have 8+ instead of X because of this.

I just bought the latest iPad Pro 10.5, knowing the next iPad Pro will probably get rid of Touch ID.

WTF Apple.

 

[Sital]

I prefer FaceID. For me, it just works more reliably than TouchID which apparently doesn't want me to ever sweat or wash my hands.

 

[jamezr]

We have this thread a lot, but I personally prefer FaceID because it becomes very natural. With TouchID in my head I always had to “do something” to unlock my phone. With FaceID my phone just unlocks. I forget it’s there most of the time.

but then you do have to swipe up...so you still have to do something

 

[partyboy4357]

Passcode.

Estabslished case law means law enforcement can demand you open your phone via TouchID. They cannot legally demand a passcode.

FaceID is neither here nor there for me, I'd still be using a passcode for the same reason.

Uhhh what are you keeping on your phone that you're worried about law enforcement seeing? Creepy!

 

[nviz22]

Definitely prefer FaceID. Nice to have both options though. Disappointing Apple didn't put Touch ID at the back or in the power button.

 

[The Game 161]

Face ID works very well for me personally. love the swipe too for home screen. very much used to this now.

 

[eyoungren]

Uhhh what are you keeping on your phone that you're worried about law enforcement seeing? Creepy!

Yeah. Wow. That took two full days longer than I expected for this particular comment. You will note that you are NOT the first person to ask this question.

The answer is nothing. I don't keep anything on my phone that I am worried about law enforcement seeing.

But here's the thing. The 4th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States protects me from unreasonable searches by government authorities. So, whether I have nothing to be worried about or not is irrelevant. The 4th Amendment doesn't state that it applies only if I have something to hide.

Keep surrendering your rights to make your life easier and to make it so law enforcement does not have to do their job and sooner or later we all wake up to find out that we have no rights.

But good call. Defending my legal rights makes me creepy.

 

[partyboy4357]

Yeah. Wow. That took two full days longer than I expected for this particular comment. You will note that you are NOT the first person to ask this question.

The answer is nothing. I don't keep anything on my phone that I am worried about law enforcement seeing.

But here's the thing. The 4th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States protects me from unreasonable searches by government authorities. So, whether I have nothing to be worried about or not is irrelevant. The 4th Amendment doesn't state that it applies only if I have something to hide.

Keep surrendering your rights to make your life easier and to make it so law enforcement does not have to do their job and sooner or later we all wake up to find out that we have no rights.

But good call. Defending my legal rights makes me creepy.

Meh who cares if they look at your phone if you have nothing to hide. This point makes no sense, you aren't going to lose your precious 4th amendment rights, smh.

Plus if that 4th amendment right is there it shouldn't matter how you secure your phone. SMHx2

 

[kramerdude]

I prefer Touch ID for safety reasons. I bought an 8+ to try to hang onto TouchID as long as possible. When I'm in the car I keep my phone in my pants pocket. I can hit the home button to summon Siri over bluetooth to make calls, read and send texts, etc. When she tells me "you'll have to unlock your iPhone first" to read a text, I can easily feel the home button to unlock. FaceID would require me to pull out my phone and look at it. I don't want my phone out while driving and want to set that example for my soon to be driving son. I can't quite swing the cost of a CarPlay stereo yet, but hoping to look into that some time in the future. I'm hoping we have at least one more model lineup with TouchID, but my guess is this is sadly the last hurrah.

 

[Love Divine]

When FaceID works, it's amazing and I definitely like it better.

I feel like second gen FaceID hardware, along with continued software improvements, will make this a moot point.

 

[eyoungren]

Meh who cares if they look at your phone if you have nothing to hide. This point makes no sense, you aren't going to lose your precious 4th amendment rights, smh.

Plus if that 4th amendment right is there it shouldn't matter how you secure your phone. SMHx2

I care.

 

[bushman4]

if Apple is going with AR then it necessary to have Face ID

 

[44267547]

When FaceID works, it's amazing and I definitely like it better.

I feel like second gen FaceID hardware, along with continued software improvements, will make this a moot point.

That’s likely what a lot of iPhone users do who are more experienced with upgrading, they wait for the second generation of new technology, usually there are refinements with the software and hardware, especially given that Face ID is a first generation product, I expect some improvements to be announced in fall 2018 what Apple has planned for their future of biometric security.

 

[Matz]

My upgrade was from a 6 to a X, for a variety of reasons, one of which was Face ID.
I like the phone, a lot, but can’t say that Face ID is more reliable or faster in most cases than Touch ID.
One case where Face ID seems more convenient is in logging onto sites. Face ID populates the username/password in a fashion I prefer over Touch ID. Or, when my fingers are wet or dirty.

I still have Touch ID on my iPad Air 2, and on my company-provided iPhone 7. Those work fine, mostly, unless there’s something on my fingertip. That actually happens more often than I thought it would.
Bottom line, I’m happy with the X, and Face ID works pretty well for me.

 

[vin1717]

I doubt I’ll ever buy anything without Face ID again. Touch ID is no where near as good... Face ID just doesn’t fail for me. If My hands are too dry or wet Touch ID is worthless...

I know several people who can not get Touch ID to work half the time or more and are always redoing their fingers. They got x’s and haven’t had to redo their face once and it just works always.

Not enough speed difference to ever worry about it for me.

And since I don’t worry about police demanding access to my phone I don’t care about that either...

Count me in that category of people who have issues with Touch ID. My hands get very dry, particularly in the winter, and I am constantly having to re-scan my fingerprints. I switched from my X to an 8 Plus for other reasons, but the one thing I really miss is the Face ID.

 

[americafirst]

One of the reasons I avoided the X and bought an 8 last December was because I prefer Touch ID. What are your thoughts? I am doubting Apple will continue to produce Touch ID phones (except maybe the SE 2) and the 8 may have been the last model with Touch ID. Personally I find Touch ID faster and why I prefer it.

I have used both and prefer FaceID

Estabslished case law means law enforcement can demand you open your phone via TouchID. They cannot legally demand a passcode.

In Virginia you are correct however outside of Virginia that is not true

Now, I do have BioProtect installed and several apps are protected by that tweak. BioProtect requires either your fingerprint (confirmed through the TouchID sensor) or a passcode to open the apps you want protected.

Is BioProtect in the app store I can't find it

Law enforcement cannot physically make you do anything tho.

That is not entirely true

I believe that would be along the lines of refusing to put your finger on the ink pad when they're taking your prints (I'm not in law enforcement, just speculating). In other words, I think it would take more than a simple "no" from you to stop them from getting what they want if they have a warrant.

I would agree with this because I have had this issue in both of my law enforcement careers and my girlfriend has had the same in corrections

THousands of suspects have had the same attitude when asked to provide fingerprints (the old, ink variety). Guess what happens each time?

It only makes it harder on them. I had an FTO who added charges because someone made it difficult to get their fingerprints and it took 4 officers to do it

2.) The article you linked was a ruled by a *local* circuit judge out of Virginia, it in fact was _not_ passed by the Supreme Court constitutionally as a ruling of what someone has to obide by. In another words, that ruling specifically does not apply to every jurisdiction, state or law pertaining to unlock someone’s phone. Again, there are circumstantial situations where L.E. can access the phone under exigent circumstances only without a warrant, thus would have to be clearly articulated why the accessed the contents to the phone without obtaining a validated warrant for face ID or touch ID.

Correct

Keep surrendering your rights to make your life easier and to make it so law enforcement does not have to do their job and sooner or later we all wake up to find out that we have no rights.

As someone who is a federal law enforcement officer I agree with you