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Do you really need to hold it up to your face like I've been seeing? The reviewers look so awkward and uncomfortable. I was hoping it would see your face laying

Do you really need to hold it up to your face like I've been seeing? The reviewers look so awkward and uncomfortable. I was hoping it would see your face laying on the desk and whatnot.

valuearb 9y ago
You need to look at it. Just like when you use it.
- JustSomeNobody 9y ago
  I can't tell if you're being passive aggressive or not. Many, many people have pointed out that looking directly at the phone (as needed by Face ID), is NOT the only way to use a phone. Sometimes one just wants to glance down at the screen to see a notification. Watch Nilay's review and you'll see what I mean.
  - derefr 9y ago
    You look at the phone to unlock it; notifications still display when the phone is locked. I believe waking up the phone just involves raising it a bit (like in the Watch), along with some light-sensor heuristic (like in the AirPods.) Or, y’know, pressing the sleep button.
    - calibration263 9y ago
      You can also wake the phone up now by tapping the display(similar to the watch). Also it might be configurable in settings but the notification content is hidden on the X when the phone is locked, after FaceID they become visible.
    - ClassyJacket 9y ago
      >You look at the phone to unlock it; notifications still display when the phone is locked. Actually, by default they don't display the content of notifications until it recognises your face. But you may be able to turn this off.
  - beams_of_light 9y ago
    I've been critical of Apple's choices in the past, mainly the headphone jack removal, as an Android/Windows/linux guy. The iPhone X looks stunning, and I think the design decisions they've made (aside from not bringing back the headphone jack) are actually very future-looking and cool. My vision of the future is one in which we use the screen a lot less, and use our voices and AR more. Once the gestures are learned by the user base, using the phone should actually become a less frustrating and time-intensive experience. That said, I've not experienced notifications on the X, but again, as an Android user, I do sometimes just hit the power or main button to see what's on the screen. To do so, I typically do have to move the phone anyway, so as long as the X gives you some notification previews when you tap the phone or something, that's a compromise I could happily make.
- nsxwolf 9y ago
  I never unlock my phone by picking it up, holding it in front of my face, looking at it, and then putting my thumb on the sensor. I pick it up off my desk with my thumb on the home button and it's unlocked long before I start using the phone. I also frequently use my phone laying flat on the desk, reaching over and just pressing the home button.
gehsty 9y ago
You have to point the sensor towards your face and look at the screen. So far feels pretty natural, 70-80% time the phone is unlocked before I think ‘is the phone unlocked’ the rest of the time I forget I need to glance (literally glance with your eyes) at the phone, which I think comes from muscle memory of from unlocking with touchid and not looking at the phone while it unlocks... Passive security, will become standard across screen based interfaces in the next 5-10yrs...
- dom96 9y ago
  I'm curious about the battery usage of this. If it's constantly looking for faces, won't this drain the battery significantly?
  - gehsty 9y ago
    Battery usage is good so far, supposed to last 2hrs longer than the iPhone 7/8. It periodically scans for attention, not battery intensive, and can actually be battery positive as it aggressively dims the screen and then turns it off if it finds it is not being looked at.
  - amazingman 9y ago
    If iFixit’s characterization is correct, then the authentication process happens in stages, each of which is more energy expensive (and likely uses different hardware) than the previous stage. If true, then it stands to reason that there is at least a conceptual path to minimizing overall energy budget.
rconti 9y ago
Yes and no. I've got the "attention detection" on which is supposed to ensure you're looking at it, and in the first, what, 12 hours of having the phone, I've had 0 problems unlocking it. One of my first tries was swiping up while riding my bicycle. I glanced down as I did so, and it was unlocked in the time it took me to take a glance down. TOTALLY seamless. Even with a bike helmet on, on a moving bike, with the phone at a totally non-optimal angle. I've also found, with it sitting on my desk on a stack of cables I brought in to ensure I could sync and power everything during the transition (lightning to USB, lightning to usb-c, apple watch magnetic charger, you get the idea), that it would unlock just from a swipe, without even having to tilt it towards me. After I've played with it a bit, I find you can be off by far more than you expect -- maybe 20-30 degrees from 'face to face' with the phone. And you don't have to be close. It doesn't work in the lying-flat-on-my-desk use case, but if i pick it up and swipe up, it's unlocked. Period. I don't even have to think about how it's angled, or if i I'm looking at it, or what the angle is, or what the light is. I'm VERY impressed. I thought the #1 thing I'd miss would be pressing the home button while it lies on my desk, but it hasn't been an issue yet. and the transition to swipe up instead of home button press took 0 minutes. I thought it would take me days or weeks.

Do you really need to hold it up to your face like I've been seeing? The reviewers look so awkward and uncomfortable. I was hoping it would see your face laying on the desk and whatnot.

valuearb 9y ago

You need to look at it. Just like when you use it.

JustSomeNobody 9y ago
I can't tell if you're being passive aggressive or not. Many, many people have pointed out that looking directly at the phone (as needed by Face ID), is NOT the only way to use a phone. Sometimes one just wants to glance down at the screen to see a notification. Watch Nilay's review and you'll see what I mean.
- derefr 9y ago
  You look at the phone to unlock it; notifications still display when the phone is locked. I believe waking up the phone just involves raising it a bit (like in the Watch), along with some light-sensor heuristic (like in the AirPods.) Or, y’know, pressing the sleep button.
  - calibration263 9y ago
    You can also wake the phone up now by tapping the display(similar to the watch). Also it might be configurable in settings but the notification content is hidden on the X when the phone is locked, after FaceID they become visible.
  - ClassyJacket 9y ago
    >You look at the phone to unlock it; notifications still display when the phone is locked. Actually, by default they don't display the content of notifications until it recognises your face. But you may be able to turn this off.
- beams_of_light 9y ago
  I've been critical of Apple's choices in the past, mainly the headphone jack removal, as an Android/Windows/linux guy. The iPhone X looks stunning, and I think the design decisions they've made (aside from not bringing back the headphone jack) are actually very future-looking and cool. My vision of the future is one in which we use the screen a lot less, and use our voices and AR more. Once the gestures are learned by the user base, using the phone should actually become a less frustrating and time-intensive experience. That said, I've not experienced notifications on the X, but again, as an Android user, I do sometimes just hit the power or main button to see what's on the screen. To do so, I typically do have to move the phone anyway, so as long as the X gives you some notification previews when you tap the phone or something, that's a compromise I could happily make.
nsxwolf 9y ago
I never unlock my phone by picking it up, holding it in front of my face, looking at it, and then putting my thumb on the sensor. I pick it up off my desk with my thumb on the home button and it's unlocked long before I start using the phone. I also frequently use my phone laying flat on the desk, reaching over and just pressing the home button.

gehsty 9y ago

You have to point the sensor towards your face and look at the screen. So far feels pretty natural, 70-80% time the phone is unlocked before I think ‘is the phone unlocked’ the rest of the time I forget I need to glance (literally glance with your eyes) at the phone, which I think comes from muscle memory of from unlocking with touchid and not looking at the phone while it unlocks... Passive security, will become standard across screen based interfaces in the next 5-10yrs...

dom96 9y ago
I'm curious about the battery usage of this. If it's constantly looking for faces, won't this drain the battery significantly?
- gehsty 9y ago
  Battery usage is good so far, supposed to last 2hrs longer than the iPhone 7/8. It periodically scans for attention, not battery intensive, and can actually be battery positive as it aggressively dims the screen and then turns it off if it finds it is not being looked at.
- amazingman 9y ago
  If iFixit’s characterization is correct, then the authentication process happens in stages, each of which is more energy expensive (and likely uses different hardware) than the previous stage. If true, then it stands to reason that there is at least a conceptual path to minimizing overall energy budget.

rconti 9y ago

Yes and no. I've got the "attention detection" on which is supposed to ensure you're looking at it, and in the first, what, 12 hours of having the phone, I've had 0 problems unlocking it. One of my first tries was swiping up while riding my bicycle. I glanced down as I did so, and it was unlocked in the time it took me to take a glance down. TOTALLY seamless. Even with a bike helmet on, on a moving bike, with the phone at a totally non-optimal angle. I've also found, with it sitting on my desk on a stack of cables I brought in to ensure I could sync and power everything during the transition (lightning to USB, lightning to usb-c, apple watch magnetic charger, you get the idea), that it would unlock just from a swipe, without even having to tilt it towards me. After I've played with it a bit, I find you can be off by far more than you expect -- maybe 20-30 degrees from 'face to face' with the phone. And you don't have to be close. It doesn't work in the lying-flat-on-my-desk use case, but if i pick it up and swipe up, it's unlocked. Period. I don't even have to think about how it's angled, or if i I'm looking at it, or what the angle is, or what the light is. I'm VERY impressed. I thought the #1 thing I'd miss would be pressing the home button while it lies on my desk, but it hasn't been an issue yet. and the transition to swipe up instead of home button press took 0 minutes. I thought it would take me days or weeks.