Apple’s Upcoming iPhone Update Lets You Unlock With a Mask

One of the byproducts of wearing a mask throughout the pandemic has been its effect on the iPhone’s Face ID. The secure authentication method relies on scanning your face to work; if half your face is obscured by a mask, it won’t be able to do its job. Apple has taken steps to fix this issue; at first, the company
February 8, 2022
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One of the byproducts of wearing a mask throughout the pandemic has been its effect on the iPhone’s Face ID. The secure authentication method relies on scanning your face to work; if half your face is obscured by a mask, it won’t be able to do its job.

Apple has taken steps to fix this issue; at first, the company issued an update that would activate the passcode option faster if Face ID detected a mask. More helpful was the ability to unlock your iPhone while wearing a mask if you were also wearing an Apple Watch. This feature is great, but only for iPhone users who own Apple’s smartwatch. The rest still had to deal without Face ID when wearing a mask out and about.

With the company’s upcoming iPhone update, iOS 15.4, you will now be able to unlock your iPhone whether or not you’re wearing a mask, and whether or not you own an Apple Watch. The catch? You’ll need to have an iPhone 12 or later. Apple does not support this feature for iPhone 11 and older, unfortunately.

The update does not have an official release date, but, until then, curious users can try out the feature by enrolling in Apple’s iOS 15.4 beta program.

Photo by Julio Lopez on Unsplash

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