iPhone X Practical usage: face id vs touch id

[Nextup12]

After using faceid for the last couple of days I can confidently say I don’t miss Touch ID and the home button whatsoever. FaceID is more reliable, more intuitive and because of that I feel like it’s actually faster to unlock the phone. I’m so surprised at how well works even in pitch black, when I’m lying down etc.

Yesterday I was on about a 45 degree angle, in good lighting, and I could see it was still locked. Without moving my head I just moved my eyes to look toward the phone and it then unlocked. Apple have nailed it.

 

[doboy]

After using faceid for the last couple of days I can confidently say I don’t miss Touch ID and the home button whatsoever. FaceID is more reliable, more intuitive and because of that I feel like it’s actually faster to unlock the phone. I’m so surprised at how well works even in pitch black, when I’m lying down etc.

Yesterday I was on about a 45 degree angle, in good lighting, and I could see it was still locked. Without moving my head I just moved my eyes to look toward the phone and it then unlocked. Apple have nailed it.

There's nothing wrong with FaceID except it’s pain in the ass with sunglasses.

 

[seriouslyjaded]

Just keep walking forward. Follow the herd.

Thankfully it seems there are a few cautious folk left out there. We are few and far between.

I think I’ve found Alex Jones.

 

[mpConroe]

I do not want apple or anything to scan my face

Scanning your fingerprint by TouchID is more specific. You can change your face, but not your fingerprints.

I do not have social media either!

Why?

You take Apple’s word as the Gospel?

Bible is old as 2000 years, Apple statements and documentation about privacy is fresh and they can be accused, if the information they provide is wrong. Have you ever seen accusation of a priest for spreading faith?

 

[seriouslyjaded]

I had similar reservations about the effectiveness of Face ID vs Touch ID as many others but, after 2 days with the max, come on, there’s just no comparison! Face ID is better in just about every way and I am so happy to be done with the home button. Face ID is so seamless that you don’t even notice it’s there.

As for the crazy paranoia - there are so many people examining traffic from every device these days looking for the next big scandal that if apple were shipping your face or fingerprints off the phone someone, somewhere would have seen it by now.

And as was pointed out up thread, a little software switch wouldn’t stop an unscrupulous party from accessing your camera biometric data anyway if they were that way inclined but hey, if you want to type in those passcodes every time... lol @ just plain stupid and nutty ****.
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@Kulfon

Serious question: If you don't trust Apple... what makes you think they aren't taking your fingerprints, picture, location, browsing habits, etc. every time you use your phone? You're staring right at a camera all the time. If you think they are evil/bad actors, they they already have a pristine 3D replica of your face and record everything regardless of what you have set in preferences

I see people at work ALL the time with tape over the camera on their laptop, but not on their phone which they most certainly have with them in much more compromising locations. Also, I know people that won't use TouchID because they "don't want Apple to have their fingerprints". But yet they put their finger on the sensor every time they use the phone. It's irrational - they don't trust apple with their fingerprint, but they do trust apple not to use the sensor if asked not to.
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Does everyone else walking around the street, sitting next to you, etc.? You know they are recording your MAC (Bluetooth and WiFi) and using everyone's camera along with facial recognition to build a database.... right? Also, I hope you don't use your phone for email or phone calls, because those can be easily recorded and sent for storage and analysis.

You just blew his mind and that screaming you hear is him running into the nearest woods. Lol

 

[Newtons Apple]

There's nothing wrong with FaceID except it’s pain in the ass with sunglasses.

Not all sunglasses, mine work fine.

 

[JulianL]

I loved Touch ID on my 6s and held off getting the X because I was sceptical that Face ID could replicate my Touch ID experience which was(is) basically magical - a home button that works just like the home button on all my past iPhones in terms of speed and responsiveness but magically only works if it's me that is pressing it. If I was going to take the risk of a leap to Face ID I certainly wanted to wait for the second generation of the technology before doing so.

Well, I did take the leap with the XS and honestly I'm blown away by how good it is. After my first few minutes of use I'd already forgotten that it's there and was back to a magical experience, a phone that I just pick up and it works without me being aware of any authentication going on at all. I think the software might do a little bit of buffering of the upward swipe as well because I never wait for the unlock symbol, I don't even look at it. I just pick up the phone and swipe up even as I'm bringing it to my face and it always seems to work so maybe it does adopt a "the user just swiped, if Face ID comes back within the next 0.5 seconds with a positive validation then I'll accept that swipe" approach which would seem very sensible.

The only thing I miss from my Touch ID experience is that I would like an option that I could set to go straight to the home screen when it unlocks without me needing to do the upward swipe. I know some people would hate that and there is the concern about missing notifications but if it was a settable option those people could be kept happy and for me it would fill in the missing part of the "just pick it up and use it" experience. I'm already used to explicitly checking for notifications because my 6s unlocks so fast that I barely see them flashing on the screen before pressing the home button to wake it up has taken it to the home screen. For the Face ID phones maybe the solution to the missed notification problem might be to change the upper-left time display to a different colour, or if there is space put a little red flag or something next to the time display, so that a user with the straight-to-home-screen option set knows there are unread notifications and that they need to swipe down to see them.

 

[Phil77354]

I went to the AT&T store on Friday curious about the new iPhone models, and walked out with a new Xs Max. I've been using my 6s Plus without problem but on impulse decided to upgrade to the Max, largely because it is physically no larger than my old phone and I gain the larger display area, better camera, and greater storage (256 GB, more than I would have ever imagined for a phone!).

I had no preconceived opinion regarding Face ID and was happy with Touch ID, however I find that I'm amazed at how well Face ID works. I don't even need to think about it, the phone unlocks itself. I also find that I don't miss the home button at all, swiping works easily and with less effort, and switching between apps is easier now as well.

All in all I'm more impressed by the phone than I expected. My 6s Plus was a good phone for over 3 years and I could have continued to use it for a much longer time. I expect that I'll be using this Xs Max for a very long time as well.

 

[craigio85]

FaceID has blown me away. In as much as a feature that’s so inconspicuous you completely forget it even exists can blow you away.

 

[x-evil-x]

Faceid on the new phones makes it pretty seamless. Im surprised how much they improved the speed from the X. You dont wait for that small blip on the lock screen it just goes. Surprised with no updated hardware(front sensors) its that much faster.

 

[JulianL]

Faceid on the new phones makes it pretty seamless. Im surprised how much they improved the speed from the X. You dont wait for that small blip on the lock screen it just goes. Surprised with no updated hardware(front sensors) its that much faster.

Interesting to hear that on the X -> XS improvement. It sounds as if my caution in holding back from 1st gen Face ID might have been good.

On the no-updated-front-sensors, do you know that for sure? Apple do tend to quietly tweak things all over the place and not mention it or have teardowns spotted that they are using the exact same part numbers?

My guess is that the massive increase in power of the neural network engine in the A12 vs the A11 (up to 9x faster - https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone-xs/a12-bionic/) is responsible for a lot of the improvement.

 

[x-evil-x]

Interesting to hear that on the X -> XS improvement. It sounds as if my caution in holding back from 1st gen Face ID might have been good.

On the no-updated-front-sensors, do you know that for sure? Apple do tend to quietly tweak things all over the place and not mention it or have teardowns spotted that they are using the exact same part numbers?

My guess is that the massive increase in power of the neural network engine in the A12 vs the A11 (up to 9x faster - https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone-xs/a12-bionic/) is responsible for a lot of the improvement.

thats what they said at the keynote that its faster because of the new chip but no new hardware yes.
I think it could get even faster if they optimize it more too.

 

[_Refurbished_]

As someone that returned their iPhone X last year for the 8 due to FaceID, I can say that my Max has been fast and flawless for unlocking. I don’t even think about it. TouchID is a great system, and I’d go back to it if they use a behind the glass system, but FaceID on this year’s iPhone is good enough to make me not miss TouchID.

 

[neteng101]

As someone that returned their iPhone X last year for the 8 due to FaceID, I can say that my Max has been fast and flawless for unlocking.

Really happy to hear this - never had an experience with FaceID 1.0 (X) but TouchID 1.0 in the 6 drove me insane, should have waited for the 6S. Glad I skipped the X to allow time for them to get FaceID right. Have the XS and its like having an unlocked locked phone... after just a day you forget about authenticating to your phone. Even TouchID 2.0 in my 7 was less reliable, I had to resort to left thumb because my right thumb being a righty would fall out of calibration quite a bit (too dry, skin scuffed up, etc).

FaceID is truly a paradigm shifting feature!

 

[TheBacklash]

I am using face id now for one day and for me it really ‘just works’. I don’t even notice my phone is being protected.
Only thing I have to watch out for is to check the information in my banking app before pressing ok. After that face id immediately authorizes. With touch id I had an extra option to cancel by not touching the home button.

Just have to say that in my banking app, there is a 2nd prompt to verify you are paying/transferring/etc *before* the touch id/face id prompt.
pay a bill (or whatever)
verify payment
Are you sure you are ready to pay?
Touch id/face id prompt.

Granted I have not paid a bill yet with face id, but there has always been that extra button press before the scan with touch id, I assume its the same with face id.
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I do not want apple or anything to scan my face

Walks around with facial recognition software everywhere in public happily, afraid of his own phone.

 

[chriscrowlee]

Yea it just works and works very well. Don’t know why people have so much trouble with it.

The issue where I've seen people have the most issues is not following directions when setting up. If you align your face within the circle (which means pulling the phone further from you to fit it all in) when training the phone, it will properly map your face so it'll be nearly flawless. Doesn't mean you have to pull your phone away far like that every time, it just trains the entire surface of the moon so whatever angle you use it's likely to work.

 

[MEJHarrison]

Guys seriously, don't you see, OP is just trolling big time.

Then their trolling skills are about on-par with their critical thinking skills. If the goal was to make FaceID look bad (if they're a troll, I would presume that to be the goal), they're failing pretty hard here. This has turned into a love fest for FaceID. I'm even seeing defectors from last year's "Face ID Sucks!" threads praising it.

I have no problem with someone being paranoid. There are real things to be paranoid about in this world and I appreciate those who have the time, patience and energy to expose such things as I'm a lazy SOB who doesn't care. I do have a problem with someone being paranoid when common sense dictates otherwise. This whole "I don't want my phone to see my face" has had more holes poked into it than a block of Swiss cheese. Anyone who has followed this thread and still "doesn't want their phone to see their face" is just sticking their fingers in their ears and ignoring the wise advice others are trying to share. Or they're 100% committed, hardcore, camera taped over, never used Touch ID either, only uses their phone in a faraday cage types. I don't mind them as much. I might not agree, but at least they're using knowledge as the weapon and not the target.

 

[chriscrowlee]

Then their trolling skills are about on-par with their critical thinking skills.

Most people who post anti-feature threads are just doing so to make themselves feel better about not upgrading... usually for financial reasons. "I don't want a new car cause the new model of my car's radio isn't as nice as mine." Of course I'd love the new model car, but I don't need it, and to justify not spending money I'll post about how bad the new model's radio is to try and make me feel better about not throwing down for the new model.

 

[MEJHarrison]

Most people who post anti-feature threads are just doing so to make themselves feel better about not upgrading... usually for financial reasons. "I don't want a new car cause the new model of my car's radio isn't as nice as mine." Of course I'd love the new model car, but I don't need it, and to justify not spending money I'll post about how bad the new model's radio is to try and make me feel better about not throwing down for the new model.

Sure, but not this guy. If you go all the way back, this person is getting/has received a new phone already and doesn't want to use one of the features it offers.

Generally speaking however, I agree with that assessment. I'm not even entirely sure it's a conscience thing for most people. They convince themselves, then believe it, then attempt to spread their knowledge which they don't realize is colored by their own circumstances.

 

[chriscrowlee]

I'm not even entirely sure it's a conscience thing for most people. They convince themselves, then believe it, then attempt to spread their knowledge which they don't realize is colored by their own circumstances.

This is the best 2 sentences I have ever read on this website. 100% spot on!

 

[BeeGood]

Apple’s claim is that the scan stays on the phone and cannot be uploaded to Apple, correct? Is there a way for this to be demonstrably proven? Or is it based on trust?

I’ll admit that I can’t prove it, but there are enough people hacking away at iOS and their phones such that if something like this we’re happening, It would be hard to believe no one has noticed it.

 

[bbrks]

Then their trolling skills are about on-par with their critical thinking skills. If the goal was to make FaceID look bad (if they're a troll, I would presume that to be the goal), they're failing pretty hard here. This has turned into a love fest for FaceID. I'm even seeing defectors from last year's "Face ID Sucks!" threads praising it.

I have no problem with someone being paranoid. There are real things to be paranoid about in this world and I appreciate those who have the time, patience and energy to expose such things as I'm a lazy SOB who doesn't care. I do have a problem with someone being paranoid when common sense dictates otherwise. This whole "I don't want my phone to see my face" has had more holes poked into it than a block of Swiss cheese. Anyone who has followed this thread and still "doesn't want their phone to see their face" is just sticking their fingers in their ears and ignoring the wise advice others are trying to share. Or they're 100% committed, hardcore, camera taped over, never used Touch ID either, only uses their phone in a faraday cage types. I don't mind them as much. I might not agree, but at least they're using knowledge as the weapon and not the target.

Totally agree with you, but in that case if OP is paranoid, then I would definitely suggest him to book the rubber room as soon as possible....you know, the room where you can't hurt yourself

 

[MEJHarrison]

I’ll admit that I can’t prove it, but there are enough people hacking away at iOS and their phones such that if something like this we’re happening, It would be hard to believe no one has noticed it.

I absolutely agree.

I don't have the skills myself either. But every so often I see stories of apps getting caught sending data back to their servers that they shouldn't be sending. From that I can conclude that such smart people do exist and have the knowledge to discover such things. Furthermore, clearly they're interested in what data the phone is sending out. It hardly seems a leap that they would also be curious about what's getting sent back to Apple. I would guess that some of them might even have an ax to grind or perhaps want to be the person that caught Apple red-handed. I can even recall a recent story where Google was sending location information when people turned that feature off. From that I see that there are people out there willing to blow the whistle on tech giants. It also tells me that even the giant tech companies aren't so smart that they can't be caught.

So while I have no way to prove that Apple isn't tricking us all, I have faith that they're not based on some solid circumstantial evidence. I've not seen or heard any credible arguments that would suggest Apple is being underhanded here with our data. So that's what I choose to believe until someone can present a good enough argument to cause me to re-think my position. I've yet to see a credible theory presented in this thread, just unfounded paranoia.

 

[TheBacklash]

To add to this, there are people that ARE trying to prove Apple is doing.. well anything nefarious. People try and prove Apple Pay is hackable, Touch/Face ID can be hacked, Apple is sending data to the NSA etc..
Where is the actual proof? It IS all just paranoia.

Paranoia is good though.. and it's good that people question stuff like this, but paranoia alone does not make something true.

 

[ckurt25]

I do not want apple or anything to scan my face

Unless you live on a private island with no cameras, your face has been scanned many times. At airports, malls, schools, stores, gas stations, restaurants, sporting events, intersections... There are cameras everywhere. If you're so paranoid about Apple or someone else having a scan of your face you should probably wear a mask every time you are in public. Never post pictures of yourself online. Never let anyone take your picture, ever. If you're not willing to do those things, you're fooling yourself in thinking that a phone is going to be the culprit in letting "big brother" identify who you are.