Plenty of people around the world are still wearing masks and are okay with continuing to wear them. Will be nice when I do I upgrade my 8+ later this year.
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iOS 14.5: How to Mask Unlock Your iPhone With Apple Watch
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Plenty of people around the world are still wearing masks and are okay with continuing to wear them. Will be nice when I do I upgrade my 8+ later this year.
This is exactly my experience, but worse: I never was able to unlock my face using Apple Watch with this feature during the entire beta phase. Then I just gave up. Completely useless. I seriously doubt it only works for Apple Watch series 5 or 6 and iPhone 11 or 12 with that shiny new U chip.
People apparently don’t carry iPad in the wild? I do, and I can’t use this feature at all (yes, I carry iPad while doing grocery shopping).
Which is very unsecure.
I came from android to iPhone, and trust me when I tell you that the "unlock when I am here" feature is often times a nightmare. I have had it work, not work, and then let's say it works fine and someone at your home picks up your phone, or your phone falls out of your pocket in the driveway and someone gets it.
The issue is the geographical location to stay unlocked is really big, not just your living room, and there goes your life in the hands of a stranger.
It's spotty for me right now, certainly not consistent. It unlocks or it just doesn't. I don't get it.
I did notice that if you hit "Lock iPhone" on your watch the FaceMaskID just stops working completely in my case. So basically I guess my personal advice, don't touch that button. 🙄
You’re assuming everyone is American. While yes, I would have loved this feature months ago, chances are I won’t be getting a vaccine until at least June and the Canadian Provincial governments have already said that even with vaccines rolling out it’s unlikely masks are going away any time soon.
So yeah, earlier would have been nice but it’s hardly as if everywhere is completely out of this.
Works nicely BUT..., as the name implies, only for unlocking the phone. Apps that use FaceId for authentication won't 'unlock'.
Which is a bit of a bummer cause it means my favourite payment app still requires me to briefly take my mask down
(or wait for FaceId to fail and than enter a passcode)
Which is a bit of a bummer cause it means my favourite payment app still requires me to briefly take my mask down
(or wait for FaceId to fail and than enter a passcode)
Wish I’d read this first…was working pretty much flawlessly for me and then I decided to hit the “Lock iPhone” on the watch just to see what it did. Now no matter what I do it no longer works at all!
Hundreds of thousands of people are using older apple watches. This is a software upgrade. It’s disgraceful they wouldn’t issue a patch of watchOS 6 in these circumstances. Disgraceful.
this isn’t a case if - I want that new feature. It literally encourages people not to demask in public. They need to do the right thing.
this isn’t a case if - I want that new feature. It literally encourages people not to demask in public. They need to do the right thing.
They’re penalising people who bought apple watches but haven’t upgraded or were waiting for series 7. It’s absurd.
I wonder if there’s some hardware limitation in the Series 2 and below that either keeps the security being good enough, or from working entirely, for this mask-unlock case. Does the Series 2 or below work with the Mac unlocking feature or is it similar limitation to Series 3 and up?
I don’t doubt you feel frustrated if you have a Series 2 or older, but I’m thinking it may not be a choice, but a technical reason, for Apple. Clearly Apple is worried about potential liabilities here as well, both for our phone’s security, but also for opening themselves up for lawsuits. The fact they aren’t allowing it for Apple Pay authentication leads me to think that.
I did consider that but in the end I believe this is Bluetooth unlocking with their software based authentication between the two. I really think it’s just a case of - we don’t want to go back and update iOS 6.
I like the feature, however, I feel like they could have gone a step further with it.
For example, it unlocks my phone whilst wearing a mask but then if I want to use any apps or Apple Pay which require Face ID then I have to either quickly pull my mask down or type in my security PIN as the feature doesn’t work for them, only the initial phone unlock…
For example, it unlocks my phone whilst wearing a mask but then if I want to use any apps or Apple Pay which require Face ID then I have to either quickly pull my mask down or type in my security PIN as the feature doesn’t work for them, only the initial phone unlock…
Yeah, I guess that is an implicit admission that this lowers the security level to some degree. I just use Apple Pay on my watch anyway. For me that is faster than getting my phone out etc. I guess there is also Apply Pay online, so that would be annoying.
I just updated last night and it is working like a champ for me.
Yep agree with @siddavis that this is likely because Apple believes this feature is less secure. And it's one thing to allow it to unlock your phone. Another step to also allow it to make purchases & payments.
I don't disagree that they could've gone further - but at so far it's not been an issue for me. Wouldn't have even noticed it if not for folks mentioning it here. ... but I'm only masked when inside a store and thus am only doing stuff like shopping list in Reminders or Notes, looking something up on Safari or Amazon, or using the store app such as Sam's Scan-and-Go or HomeDepot or whatever.
You mention ApplePay - is there a reason you don't use it from your watch? I can't remember the last time I used my phone to pay for something in a store.
Not really, I dont need a wearable, its just pushing consumerism which is fine if you want a watch that at some point gets no more updates and gets binned, my Tag Heur series 2000 is working just fine after 20 years and will continue for many more to come and has genuine sapphire glass too. Just pull your mask down for a second and it unlocks, also with people like myself with certain disabilities the apple watch is hard to use if not impossible, but my Tag tells the time just fine.
Yeah and it's really dumb. I don't ever have wifi on on any of my devices unless I am home to avoid unnecessary battery drain. They have the same requirement for unlocking your mac with the watch as well.
I was carrying my watch in my hand (not correctly on my wrist) and it still unlocked my phone! That surprised me!
Doesn’t work for me, phone and watch updated and Face ID setting turned on, it worked the very first time I tried it but since then I have to put my passcode into my phone every time, if the Samsung S21 ultra didn’t have a crappy curved screen I’d of sold my iPhone 12 Pro Max and bought the ultra 🙄
iOS 14.5 is now available, and a key new feature is the ability to unlock an iPhone with Face ID while wearing a mask, so long as you are wearing an Apple Watch. Read on to learn how this feature works.
Apple introduced its Face ID facial recognition system in November 2017 with the launch of the iPhone X, offering users an even simpler way to unlock their smartphone than traditional fingerprint recognition.
Following the now-mainstream usage of face masks, however, Apple's biometric feature has been handicapped, leaving many users having to enter their passcode to unlock their device when in public spaces.
Fortunately, Apple has responded to this change in our everyday lives by introducing a new feature that allows iPhone users wearing an Apple Watch to unlock their smartphone via Face ID through a partial face scan, when they're wearing a mask.
The process is similar to how it works when unlocking a Mac with an Apple Watch. When the unlock happens, the user receives a haptic buzz and a notification on the Apple Watch informing them that the unlocking procedure has been successful. However, bear in mind that you can only use your Apple Watch to unlock your iPhone while wearing a mask – it can't be used for authenticating Apple Pay or App Store purchases.
Before you can take advantage of the new feature, you'll need to make sure that you're running iOS 14.5 on your iPhone and watchOS 7.4 on your Apple Watch. You can update your iPhone by going to Settings -> General -> Software Update. To update your Apple Watch after installing iOS 14.5, launch the Watch app on your iPhone, tap the My Watch tab at the bottom of the screen, then select General -> Software Update.
What You'll Need
- iPhone X or later with Face ID
- Apple Watch Series 3 or later
- iOS 14.5 or later installed on iPhone
- watchOS 7.4 or later installed on Apple Watch
How to Set Up Unlock iPhone With Apple Watch
- Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Select Face ID & Passcode.
- Enter your iPhone's passcode.
Scroll down to the section labeled "Unlock With Apple Watch" and toggle the switch next to Apple Watch to the green ON position. (If the option is greyed out, you need to update the version of watchOS on your Apple Watch.)
How to Unlock Your iPhone With Apple Watch
To use your Apple Watch to unlock your iPhone, your watch needs to be nearby, on your wrist, unlocked, and protected by a passcode. If you haven't set up a passcode yet, launch the Watch app on your iPhone, select Passcode -> Turn Passcode On, then enter the passcode you want to use (you'll have to do so twice to confirm.)
The first time you attempt to unlock your iPhone with Apple Watch when wearing a mask, your iPhone will ask you to enter your passcode. Once you've done that, all subsequent attempts to unlock your iPhone when wearing a mask will be swift and seamless, with each successful unlock accompanied by a short haptic buzz on your wrist. You'll need to re-enter your passcode if you remove your watch and the first time you set it up each day.
Article Link: iOS 14.5: How to Mask Unlock Your iPhone With Apple Watch
I upgraded my phone to a 12 Pro and it no longer works.
Worked perfectly on my XS Max.
I set up the watch as part of the phone setup.
Maybe I should reset the Watch completely and re-pair on the 12 Pro.
It should be easy and seamless!
Worked perfectly on my XS Max.
I set up the watch as part of the phone setup.
Maybe I should reset the Watch completely and re-pair on the 12 Pro.
It should be easy and seamless!
For what it's worth, used it at Costco this weekend for the first time, and worked great. It was a classic use case of having the list on my phone (an iMessage from my wife!) and having to open it many times throughout as I check against the list. Worked well every time and it was actually quite speedy on my iPhone 12 Pro. I had read that it was quite a bit slower than actual Face ID, but I actually didn't think so - I felt very little of difference in unlock time in getting to my home screen.