iOS 14.5 delivers Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch, new privacy controls, and more

Re:iOS 14.5 delivers Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch, new pri... by lemax on Monday April 26, 2021 @01:59PM (#26945702)

My Face ID is completely broken after getting water on my "waterproof" iPhone X. I downloaded the beta in the hopes of using my Apple Watch to unlock my iPhone without Face ID enabled. My employer enforces a device policy with passcode required immediately and auto-lock in 1 minute, so this would have been really nice. Unfortunately this feature only works a) with Face ID enabled and b) while wearing a mask. Not exactly just "Unlock with Apple with Apple Watch".

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Re:iOS 14.5 delivers Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch, new pri... by gpm on Monday April 26, 2021 @02:37PM (#26946240)

> b) while wearing a mask

Wtf? What possible benefit does this have? Securing your phone against people who stole it (and your watch) but aren't willing to put on a mask?

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Re:iOS 14.5 delivers Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch, new pri... by abadaba on Monday April 26, 2021 @03:49PM (#26947153)

I wonder if Face ID is still able to partially detect a masked user's face, just with a much lower confidence interval. Maybe the presence of the watch allows Face ID to lower the confidence threshold when it detects a mask blocking half of the face. This is just a guess, I have no idea how Face ID works.

If Face ID can't detect anything when a user wears a mask then I completely agree with you. It seems really silly to require the mask in order for the watch unlock to work. I don't understand the security model there.

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Re:iOS 14.5 delivers Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch, new pri... by lemax on Monday April 26, 2021 @11:24PM (#26951636)

It works because you put your watch on, unlock your watch. Your watch remains unlocked until you take it off. I was under the impression if you’re wearing your watch and it’s unlocked, and then you pick up your iPhone, it acts as the key to your phone.

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Re:iOS 14.5 delivers Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch, new pri... by valine on Monday April 26, 2021 @11:48PM (#26951780)

The watch will only unlock your phone when you're wearing a mask. If FaceID doesn't see a mask it will ignore the Apple Watch.

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Re:iOS 14.5 delivers Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch, new pri... by reaperducer on Monday April 26, 2021 @02:49PM (#26946412)

my "waterproof" iPhone X

Oh, wow. I'm usually aware of Apple's new offerings, and I completely missed that there's a "waterproof" version of the iPhone X available. I just have the regular water resistant version.

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