Your iPhone’s Face ID Can Be More Secure

Since 2017, Apple’s go-to security measure for the iPhone has been Face ID. By scanning your face with thousands of invisible beams, your iPhone can detect whether or not the person trying to unlock the device is really you. But there’s a setting that can make this secure feature even better.

According to Apple, Face ID has a one in a million chance of failure. That means, hand your iPhone to one million different people, and maybe one of them will unlock it, too. Those are pretty good odds, especially when Touch ID, Apple’s fingerprint scanner, has a one in 50,000 chance of failure. By default, your iPhone is pretty secure against the random intruder trying to unlock with their own face.

But what if that intruder isn’t trying to use their face? What if they’re trying to use a face they know will work: yours.

In a worst-case scenario, someone could point your iPhone at your face and unlock it from there. After all, Face ID doesn’t take into account who’s holding the phone. As long as it can make a proper scan of your face, and can confirm it’s yours, the phone will unlock. That poses a potential threat for anyone who swipes your phone and scans your face while you sleep, or while you aren’t paying attention.

That’s why there is a setting that actually checks whether you’re looking at your iPhone before Face ID unlocks it. It’s a smart move: iOS will analyze your face, and make sure your eyes aren’t looking away from the device before authenticating. It should be enabled on your iPhone by default, but, just in case, make sure it’s enabled in Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Require Attention for Face ID.