Safe to use "Set Up Alternate Appearance" for a second person?

[MilaM]

I'm helping an older relative to manage their iPhone regularly. It would make my life a lot easier if the iPhone I'm helping to administer would recognize my face for the purpose of unlocking the phone. I already know all the codes and passwords, so it's not strictly necessary, but still.

Recently I have learned about the Set Up Alternate Appearance feature. Apple's documentation is strangely ambiguous though if this can/should be used to enrol the face of a different person.

So here are my questions:

Are you using Set Up Alternate Appearance to allow a different person to access your phone?
Does it work reliably without compromising security or possibly harming reliability of FaceID for the original owner?

 

[goldmac2006]

It might not be the most secure way to go, but it could work if we use someone else’s face. Just a heads-up: Face ID doesn’t treat the alternate appearance as a separate user profile. It still looks for the same basic features and anything that adds onto it . If Face ID doesn’t recognise the new scan, the easiest fix is to reset Face ID and then set it up again.

The feature you’re referring to is mainly if you wear very dark sunglasses, use prosthetic eyes, or wear adaptive accessories for your face like eye patches or contacts with different colors, certain headwear, religious headwear, and other accessories that might make Face ID struggle to properly detect your face. Masks are also an issue, but iOS already has a workaround with Face ID with a mask on, which improved TrueDepth camera sensors and technology in iPhone 12 and higher for authentication and unlocking. On all other devices, including compatible iPhones, an Apple Watch can bridge that to unlock your iPhone ONLY. Since the pandemic 😷.

For inspiration, here’s a video of the Face ID twins and a photo test, which is all about the 3D mapping of the face used in unlocking and authentication of the iPhone. NOTE: The video is a bit old-fashioned, as it’s from the very beginning with iPhone X, so it might have changed on the most recent iPhone(s).

With photorealistic art and/or a self-portrait with an Apple silicon iPad Pro:

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Reliability would be the sticking point to me. I don’t want any changes I make, to cause any problems for Mom.

I’ve set up her iPhone to use a 4-digit passcode, so it’s simpler for her when she needs to use the passcode and for me, always.

 

[goldmac2006]

Reliability would be the sticking point to me. I don’t want any changes I make, to cause any problems for Mom.

I’ve set up her iPhone to use a 4-digit passcode, so it’s simpler for her when she needs to use the passcode and for me, always.

A better choice. Even the same thing if you have kids and they share the iPad.

 

[MilaM]

Thanks for the answers so far. Of course I would like to avoid a situation where the FaceID feature will work less reliably for the primary user. For the time being I stick to using the passcode.

If there is someone out there who successfully used it to unlock a phone with a "second face", I would still like to hear from you.

 

[goldmac2006]

Thanks for the answers so far. Of course I would like to avoid a situation where the FaceID feature will work less reliably for the primary user. For the time being I stick to using the passcode.

If there is someone out there who successfully used it to unlock a phone with a "second face", I would still like to hear from you.

Got it. So far I don’t use the alternative appearance to unlock the iPhone with a different face as it isn’t really safe to do that on my iPhone.

Passcode is the best