It wouldn't be slower if you swiped up before waiting for it to unlock. Just pick up the phone (looking at it as you normally would) and swipe up. I do recommend turning off "Require Attention", which I have. For me, FaceID is faster and more reliable than TouchID:
- Its WAY faster every time you use an app that uses TouchID/FaceID. There's NOTHING to do. Just tap the app and it opens, no extra step.
- Same when tapping a notification from the lock screen (no extra step), or
- When using Siri from a lock screen. (no extra step)
- I find the swipe up quicker than searching for the home button. You can swipe up from anywhere at the bottom.
For me it really is as easy as having no security at all, yet more secure than anything we've had. John Gruber and several other reviewers make the same point.
Regarding reliability: I give tech support to a lot of friends and for a surprising number of them, touchID NEVER works. (maybe they have sweaty hands or are pressing it to hard or too soft, don't know). FaceID will probably work for them beautifully.
Also much better when using siri on a locked phone when driving (assuming you're using a cradle). No need to touch the phone at all.
Also with TouchID on my iPhone7+, I often had problems inadvertently triggering siri, when holding the home button after the press (just forgetfulness). Those problems are gone of course.
The only time it has ever failed for me was when I was tilting the screen to show FaceID to a friend, so it tried to use my friends face for FaceID. Even then I didn't have to use a passcode. I just hit the power button, tapped the screen and swiped up. Retry was never an option after a TouchID fail.
One other benefit of the new gestures on the iPhoneX. Control panel was almost never reliably accessible from within apps. For me that failed much more than it worked. Now the control panel can be accessed instantly and from anywhere. Big Win.
