Face ID With a Mask: How It Works and What You Need to Know

[dumastudetto]

Why not iPhone 11, Apple? I was excited about the feature but now I am disappointed.

Unfortunately, it seems certain that the iPhone 11 lacks the cutting edge technologies required to unlock these capabilities in a safe and secure fashion. The good news is you can easily upgrade to an iPhone 13 now.

 

[britboyj]

This is in stark contrast to the "Unlock With Apple Watch" feature that Apple added to iOS 14.5 last year and cannot authenticate transactions.

Stupid limitation that bothers me no end.

 

[mavis]

No sunglasses support. LOL. Enjoy the summer with your overpriced iphone.

It works fine with my sunglasses, as long as the phone is within about 45° of perpendicular to the eyes. I haven't tried it with any of my Oakleys but it works with my RayBans (aftermarket lenses from FuseLenses.com - G15 color, polarized, with oleophobic coating and anti-reflective coating on the inside surface) ... Maybe it's because the G15 lens isn't reflective and isn't quite as dark as some lenses ... ?

Edit: found a picture of the lenses. The Aviators work, but I haven't tried the Oakleys.



Edit 2: just tested it and it works fine with all three sunglasses pictured above, as well as a third pair of Oakleys with polarized + reflective lenses.

 

[coffee06]

seems like a decent work around and glad to get it. Seems it would be difficult to do finger ID power button on phone since so many people have phone covers that cover the button….like Apple’s own silicon cases.

 

[minimo3]

My best guess would be that perhaps the neural engine of the iPhone 11 can't run enough operations per second to run FaceID with Masks quickly enough to deliver a decent user experience, or there's a difference in security capabilities. But I'm just guessing.

Since it’s only looking at half the face there will be less features ie. less layers in the neural network to process. In any case training the neural network is compute intensive (when they had to input and train it with millions of masked faces) but performing the inference (prediction/classification) when unlocking the phone is not compute intensive at all. You can easily run models like tensorflow lite on low power systems like a raspberry pi for image classification.

 

[Boatboy24]

I was snowboarding last week for the first time since pre-pandemic. FaceID worked while I was wearing a helmet, goggles and ski mask.

 

[Shirasaki]

I think they're pretty clear that it isn't as secure. But, for 99.87% of us, will be totally fine.

Or 100% cause those people needing higher security will not use Face ID for sole mean of authentication to their iPhone. I highly doubt Face ID is as advanced as those being used in military or secret service.

 

[Shirasaki]

I was snowboarding last week for the first time since pre-pandemic. FaceID worked while I was wearing a helmet, goggles and ski mask.

That’s not a good sign if you can unlock like that. Apple must have made immense compromises to make Face ID mask work.

 

[6787872]

seems like a good compromise. apple watch unlock was a gamechanger for me.

 

[SofyQQ]

I have an iPhone 12 and sometimes the face id works terribly

 

[JamieLannister]

IN 2020 when I was at costco, I had to type in my password to unlock. Got so frickin' sick of faceID not working with my mask I did the most common sense thing ever. I pulled my mask down and unlocked my phone. Guys this is not ebola nor is it HIV. But let's not veer off to the political lane here...this feature is really 2 years too late. Put back touchID like you do in those iPads and problems all solved.

Tim crook just needs to nickel and dime enough to get his bonuses. FaceID and TouchID in one device and you will have the perfect iPhone.

 

[JamieLannister]

I have an iPhone 12 and sometimes the face id works terribly

My wife says the same thing. I told her it's not faceID's fault. It's just that it doesn't recognize ugly people.

 

[SofyQQ]

My wife says the same thing. I told her it's not faceID's fault. It's just that it doesn't recognize ugly people.

so, you married an ugly woman?

 

[svish]

Very useful feature. Bad that it is available only on the newer iPhones. For the older iPhones, unlocking with watch is also good.

 

[JamieLannister]

so, you married an ugly woman?

How dare you assume it's a WOMAN I married.

 

[miamialley]

Add Touch ID to the power button problem fixed!

God, please add it on the next iPhone. Should have been on the last one.

It works fine with my sunglasses, as long as the phone is within about 45° of perpendicular to the eyes. I haven't tried it with any of my Oakleys but it works with my RayBans (aftermarket lenses from FuseLenses.com - G15 color, polarized, with oleophobic coating and anti-reflective coating on the inside surface) ... Maybe it's because the G15 lens isn't reflective and isn't quite as dark as some lenses ... ?

Edit: found a picture of the lenses. The Aviators work, but I haven't tried the Oakleys.

View attachment 1953445

FaceID works with my polarized Oakleys, why wouldn't it work with this new feature?

 

[architect1337]

Thank goodness there is an option to switch this off. I'm sure there will still be people out and about who choose to wear a mask, but I'd rather err on the side of more security and disable this sort of feature. Could also be useful for iPhone users in the Middle East and some Asian countries where mask wearing / face covering is the norm.

 

[Smartass]

I agree. This is a on a wish list. It makes no sense how Touch ID made its way on an iPad Air (4TH generation) model but It didn't make it on the iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max line up. Somethings not right and doesn't add up.

It make all the sense in the world. If they've added touchid to the 13, then they wouldnt have any special selling point for 14.
This whole "FaceID fiasco during pandemic times" is just a proof how apple is disconnected from reality of everyday people.

 

[Smartass]

just bring back Touch ID already - it's faster anyway since it doesn't require a swipe up of the screen (can unlock the phone while pulling out of pocket, and be at the homescreen already by the time you look at it), and can work from any angle...

It the same crap as with the Macbooks. They removed usefull features, only to return them 7 years later. So couple of more years, and Apple will probably bring touchid back to the iphone!

 

[MajorFubar]

Hate face ID with a passion.
Tech for tech's sake, when better solutions exist (touch ID).
I refuse to update from my SE2 for that reason.

 

[mavis]

God, please add it on the next iPhone. Should have been on the last one.

FaceID works with my polarized Oakleys, why wouldn't it work with this new feature?

I don't know why Apple says it doesn't work, but it does. I just tested it with three pairs of polarized +highly reflective Oakleys and it worked fine.

 

[Marzzz]

Apple will have this perfected right about the time mask mandates cease to exist…

 

[gmarm]

So much trouble simply because they are reluctant to just bring back Touch ID. ?

 

[NLLV]

I never fully understood the term "a day late and dollar short" until I became an Apple user.

 

[ninetyCent]

Could have been a one sentence article

Face ID when wearing a mask works just like Face ID without a mask