Require Attention for FaceID: on or off?

[caesarp]

Why leave Require Attention on -- if it makes it slightly more difficult for faceid to register. What is the real benefit of having it on? I don't see anyone forcing me to do anything with my phone or sneaking up on me while my eyes are shut and opening my phone -- so is there a reason to leave this on? I'm not sure I see the benefit. And it seems like there is a huge benefit to leave it OFF for easier unlocking even if you don't directly look at the phone. I've tested faceID with it on or off. And with it off, it seems like it is easier to unlock from more angles, farther away, while in my lap, while its flat on a table, etc. No holding up to my face or 12 inches away.

So again -- why bother with Require Attention set to on? Am I missing something other than the paranoid security concerns?

 

[Ntombi]

I have mine on, because the phone has had absolutely no problem recognizing me. Even at acute angles, it’s unlocked consistently.

Now, I’ve only had it for a few hours, so I may change my mind, but for now, it stays.

Also, I really like the other benefits attention awareness brings, like lowering volume of notifications if I’m looking at the phone, dimming more quickly if I’m not, etc.

 

[caesarp]

I have mine on, because the phone has had absolutely no problem recognizing me. Even at acute angles, it’s unlocked consistently.

Now, I’ve only had it for a few hours, so I may change my mind, but for now, it stays.

Also, I really like the other benefits attention awareness brings, like lowering volume of notifications if I’m looking at the phone, dimming more quickly if I’m not, etc.

See, but that's two different settings. Go look in the settings menu. There is "require attention" and "attention aware". I have attention aware ON. That's a separate toggle switch. I turned "require attention" OFF. Require attention only has to do with unlocking for faceid. Not for brightness or volume.

So again, I'm not sure how much benefit there is to Require Attention.

 

[Ntombi]

I know. I was addressing both.

 

[flat five]

I have mine on, because the phone has had absolutely no problem recognizing me. Even at acute angles, it’s unlocked consistently.

Now, I’ve only had it for a few hours, so I may change my mind, but for now, it stays.

.

Same for me.. I thought I’d prefer it turned off but so far, no problems with it on.

But same for me about your second thought too.
I’m just seeing how it goes for now but am still open to try it the other way eventually

 

[dhy8386]

I tried both. Its not that it works any different, accuracy wise. But there are certain situations where I grab the phone and am so use to immediately swiping up. But I am not always looking at my phone. Or when its on an angle and doesn't see my eyes but still captures my face. In those situations its faster. But its so fast in general that even if I subsequently have to look at my phone there is not real meaningful delay. So net net, I turn it off as the extra security it is supposed to provide I don't see it as an issue for me.

EDIT: I just noticed it does help when the phone is lying flat on a table. Since your eyes don't have to be as far forward, it will unlock from steeper angels. This is actually a benefit for me since I do this a lot, especially from office.

 

[nrvna76]

When I was driving home from picking up the device I had maps going. Every time it lit up with a notification for direction it just said google maps. Then when I turned to look it opened the full notification. Not exactly helpful for maps but if your phone is in a mount pointed at you, you’d have to look at it to see the notification.

 

[caesarp]

When I was driving home from picking up the device I had maps going. Every time it lit up with a notification for direction it just said google maps. Then when I turned to look it opened the full notification. Not exactly helpful for maps but if your phone is in a mount pointed at you, you’d have to look at it to see the notification.

You can just change notification settings for any app, so that it shows the notice by default, without first unlocking. Under Google Maps/notifications go to Show Previews "always". The default is "when unlocked". You can do this for every app that has notices. Meaning that you don't need to unlock to see notification preview (if you want to set it that way). I leave only Messages sent to "when unlocked" -- as usually messages can be private. But everything else, might as well see notification without unlocking (even email, because it shows so little in a preview).