They fixed this a few versions ago. Now if it sees a mask, it shows the passcode input immediately.

That was their claim, however my observation is that it just takes longer to fail before offering "swipe up to get the passcode interface". I have to waste many seconds of staring at my phone just to have the privilege of swiping up to spin the passcode interface display slot machine. You know what would work? Just showing the passcode interface as soon as the screen turns on.

> That was their claim, however my observation is that it just takes longer to fail before offering "swipe up to get the passcode interface"

If I have a mask on, swiping up immediately brings up the pass code screen. In this case immediately is <0.5 secs.

And for me, it regularly doesn't, taking the full timeout period.

Never does for me either, possibly because without a mask I have a beard so it struggles to tell if it's a mask or my regular face. ProTip though: swipe up again immediately and you get the passcode prompt.

I wonder if this is an issue for the older apple watches or if it happens for the new ones too.

I believe the immediate parent was talking about Face unlock outside of this update where the Watch is added. I have the same issue. Sometimes, (I guess?) it can tell I'm wearing a mask and pops up a number pad quickly, other times it authenticates my masked face, other times it just hangs trying to authenticate and after a few seconds I get a number pad.

FWIW I have a new Apple Watch and have this issue. I just installed the update so I haven't tested the Watch authentication. If it can't detect a mask I'll have the same issue as before waiting for a number pad.

Same here.

FYI if you tap the text in the center of the screen that says "Face ID" while it's scanning, it'll bring up the passcode screen immediately.

Doesn't work on my iPad.

Still sounds weird to me. I use an Android phone, I can unlock my phone at anytime using either face, fingerprint, or passcode.

What exactly is the reason/rationale that it has to fail on facial recognition first before proceeding to use passcode?

I am guessing the rationale is that Face ID is supposed to be so good that you won't need to use your passcode. In regular use, Face ID unlocks my phone the moment I lift it; showing an "enter passcode" option button would be redundant because it's already unlocked. Obviously this falls apart with masks.

I buy this theory, but it sounds like the result of some kind of internal politics, not anyone trying to do what’s best for the user.

> What exactly is the reason/rationale that it has to fail on facial recognition first before proceeding to use passcode?

C O U R A G E

Joke aside, it seems that Face ID was a tremendous technical effort so you could have instant access to your phone. Besides unlocking, there's no other serious application (memojis aside). The fingerprint reader was probably removed just to prop acceptance of Face ID. Also, Face ID is less secure. If you're detained or mugged, just looking at your phone will unlock it before you can react and look away.

IMO, the 3D scanner should be on the other side, enhancing your pictures with 3D depth.

If you're detained or mugged you have other problems to worry about. They can also threaten you with a knife to get your pin code or put your fingerprints on the phone. If anything face ID requires your eyes to be open, they can knock you out and use your fingerprints more easily.

Law enforcement in most developed countries won't resort to violence to get your credentials but are happy to point your phone at your face.

By the "they can just use violence" logic, no computer is secure and we should throw them all into the ocean. Security can improve the intermediate cases- focusing solely on the worst case is unproductive.

They can also enforce you to use your fingerprint or face (in The Netherlands) but not PIN or password (in The Netherlands), both with proper (minimal) force. In UK, there's a law to force a user to give away their password. Which, IMO, is the same as being enforced to help your own conviction.

I always preferred the fingerprint sensor over Face ID. You can unlock the phone before even taking it out of the pocket. At my desk, I can unlock the phone without leaning forward so it sees me. The only time that Face ID works (better) is when it's freezing cold and you don't want to take your gloves off to unlock the phone.

If you’re detained or mugged hold both the power and a volume button for 3 seconds.

Hard to do when you're busy getting mugged.

You should set lockdown mode (enforce PIN/password authentication) before getting mugged. I don't know it's possible on iPhone, but possible on Android.

Press the power button 5 times quickly. Warning: LOUD.

except I was trying to use my phone to record being illegally detained

> If you're detained or mugged, just looking at your phone will unlock it before you can react and look away.

As far as hypothetical situations go, I prefer this over them cutting off my finger.

More seriously, in a situation where I'm detained or mugged, there will be a lot of external factors which are pushing me to unlock my phone, be it via passcode or biometrics.

FWIW, "SOS mode" (holding the power and volume up buttons) will purge information needed for biometrics to work and mandate a PIN on both TouchID and FaceID devices.

Most fingerprint (and other biometric devices) sensors do liveness checks

That expects all the muggers to know this fact and would avoid cutting fingers.

> IMO, the 3D scanner should be on the other side, enhancing your pictures with 3D depth.

That's what the LIDAR sensor on the latest phones is for. It only gets used in photos for the portrait-mode stuff, admittedly.

Off topic, and I know we're in the middle of an Apple-bashing thread, but the portrait mode on iPhone 12 is amazing.

Portrait mode is Apple-speak for pseudo-depth-of-field, which is the effect that real cameras do that make the subject in focus but the background blurry.

It makes photos look way more professional.

FaceID used 3D depth in perception, it’s not camera what it uses.

> Also, Face ID is less secure. If you're detained or mugged, just looking at your phone will unlock it before you can react and look away

Much easier to force someone to unlock the phone with their fingerprint than to force them to unlock with faceid if you have “Require attention” on.

You can’t physically force someone to look in a certain direction, but you definitely can force them to tap their finger on a surface.

> You can’t physically force someone to look in a certain direction

Excuse me, but this is ridiculously easier than forcing someone to use their fingerprint; just wait until they are distracted, show them the phone and ask them "what is this?". It unlocks in less than a second with "Require Attention" activated. We prank each other this way when we forget our phones around the house.

We're not talking about pranks, we're talking about someone getting robbed. It will be pretty hard for the robber to "distract you" and spring the phone on you.

Long passcodes are still better.

You can't make a general assertion like that because “better” depends on different factors:

* If you're concerned about someone who can see you typing, a biometric is better because they have far fewer chances to watch you — especially if you don't reboot outside of your home.

* If you're concerned about actual adoption, a biometric is better because you remove the constant frictional password entry cost which causes a large fraction of users to use short, easily-entered passwords.

* If you're concerned about someone who has enough access to construct a usable fingerprint / face facsimile but can't coerce you into providing a password or shoulder-surf it with a drone, a long password is better.

The only Android phone with secure face unlock was the Pixel 4, which didn’t have a fingerprint sensor. Some Samsung devices had iris unlock, which was also fairly secure, but even more finicky than face unlock.

Correction: the Huawei Mate series also includes 3D face unlock. However, at least the initial version on the Mate 20 was not as secure as Face ID.

Guess you miss the memo. The whole thing is avoid the authority. Is there an authority behind that I do not certain. But lots of our brothers and sisters do and did.

> What exactly is the reason/rationale that it has to fail on facial recognition first before proceeding to use passcode?

To better train the facial recognition system, perhaps.

Yes, a facial recognition failure followed by success or passcode unlock will result in the failures being used for model training.

Androids also have the option where you tell them not to lock if you're in your home (or other named places). Does iPhone support that?

I have an Android and don't have this option. Seems to be a manufacturer-specific feature.

It's supposed to be part of base Android 5.0+. There is a problem and workaround: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3199592/android-smart-...

Yep definitely not on my Xiaomi Android 10 phone. I can do the steps in Google Maps but that doesn't trigger the Smart Lock. Also nothing in my settings for Smart Lock. Oh well.

Yes, although home is probably the place where one tends to wear a mask the least.

Great idea. Not everybody could us it but would be great for me.

I think it's slightly weird UI/UX to show the password prompt if FaceID will just instantly unlock the phone anyway (at least when not wearing a mask).

I have about a 60% success rate on their "fix" to this, varying wildly depending on which mask I am wearing. The better a mask fits, the less likely the solution is to work, because the phone seems to think it's an unmasked face, just not my unmasked face.

Strange, I'm up to date yet it still spends ages searching for my face when I have a mask on. Perhaps my mask isn't masklike enough?

Happens to me all the time too, super annoying. If I'm outside and the suns out its even worse.

doesn't do that for me. just got a new 12 mini running iOS 14.4 and... I still always have to do multiple gyrations to get to 'passcode'. Still regretting moving away from the SE with the touch button in that regard.

ack. can't edit any more. So... I noticed that iOS unlock itself does behave that way (per the parent) BUT... individual apps that use face unlock still don't deal with masks. There's probably some varying levels of security with face unlock?

Interesting, mine seems to have like a 50% chance of unlocking anyways with my mask on, I thought they did some sort of improved face-with-mask detection or something

It is a cross between detecting the face is obscured, and recognizing the face if deformed by a tight-fitting mask. If you can get around the obscured face check, you can use the alternative FaceID profile while wearing a mask to deal with any nose/cheek deformation.

If a mask is on the tip of my nose and loose fitting, it seems to work.

For me it totally depends on the type of mask. Extremely annoying.

This has never worked for me.

Only problem is, mine takes fifteen seconds to notice the mask

I've never had FaceID take fifteen seconds to respond either positively or negatively (mask or not). Just an anecdote to counter your's

they actually do this, but it doesn’t look like a button. the “face id” text that is shown when it tries to recognize your face is clickable and it brings the password form. awesome ux...

Wow, thanks for the tip. I would never in a million years have discovered this otherwise. I don't know if Apple's UX design has gone downhill lately or if I'm just getting older and stupider.

A good idea would be “discovery mode” where buttons appear everywhere which explain what can be done if you don’t want the floating buttons around.

In Settings -> Accessibility -> Display & Text Size you have an option "Button Shapes" that will show a button outline on any clickable text.

I always enable this when setting up an iPhone for a parent (or myself).

One of the least-discoverable features in the phone. One of many such features, sadly.

..thank you so much

If you tap the “Face ID” text, it pops up the passcode entry form. I discovered this by accident a couple years ago.

It's order of magnitude less than 15 seconds for me. And they have specifically implemented mask detection so if FaceID spots a face with a mask on it immediately shows the passcode keyboard.

Personally, I'm getting the passcode prompt in less than 1 second.

Just curious, why not just show numpad/pattern input all the time then?

Because in the standard lock screen you see notifications. iOS switches from the lock screen to the numpad when it detects a facemask, or after a timeout from the unlock gesture (swipe up).

It's confusing to show inputs that will then likely disappear in less than a second.

I’ve never seen it take 15 seconds… it takes 2 seconds with a mask and 3 seconds with no face visible at all, for me. Versus 1 second when Face ID works.