5 ms·

I use Pixel 4, and I absolutely hate not having a fingerprint sensor. Cons: * At night it doesn't work, because I am laying on the bed and half my face is cov

I use Pixel 4, and I absolutely hate not having a fingerprint sensor. Cons: * At night it doesn't work, because I am laying on the bed and half my face is covered. * It doesn't work when I am not wearing my glasses. Annoying when I have just woken up or going to bed and want to check a quick notification. * Sometimes it unlocks by itself even if I don't want it to. For the headphone jack, I got a cheap USB-C ones and couldn't be happier. Bluetooth just doesn't work all the time. It sometimes refuses to pair for random reasons, specially if you paired it with something else, you can never be sure its charged enough, easy to forget it turned on and have the batteries depleted etc etc.

packetlost 7y ago
This sums up my experience with the Pixel 4 too. It's not enough to push me away from it, but it's a bunch of minor annoyances that make me have to enter my rather long passcode more often than I should have to.
- jen20 7y ago
  FWIW the Apple implementation of Face ID deals very well with both sunglasses and regular eyeglasses as well as the absence of them. Face masks, obviously, not so much however!
  - packetlost 7y ago
    I don't actually have much of an issue with glasses or sunglasses on. Google's implementation isn't bad, but I do miss my fingerprint scanner.
ihuman 7y ago
> It doesn't work when I am not wearing my glasses FaceID works with and without my glasses. I can't remember if it learned this automatically, or if I added it as an "alternative appearance." Does the Pixel 4 have any options like that?
- tclancy 7y ago
  Mine FaceID with or without glasses/ sunglasses and I did not set anything up.
  - rootusrootus 7y ago
    Anecdotally, mine doesn't work with sunglasses. I have to lift them up to get it to recognize me.
    - ceocoder 7y ago
      It really depends on sunglasses, Doesn’t work: - Ray-Ban wayfarers Works: - Ray-Ban aviators - Maui Jim Waterways
      - Hamuko 7y ago
        Works with my Polaroid Wayfarer clones.
- asaddhamani 7y ago
  FaceID is designed to work with or without glasses. > Face ID is designed to work with hats, scarves, glasses, contact lenses, and many sunglasses. Furthermore, it's designed to work indoors, outdoors, and even in total darkness. https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT208108 https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT208108
  - Analemma_ 7y ago
    Although recently I have discovered that it doesn't work with face masks!
    - Robotbeat 7y ago
      Imagine explaining this to someone in 2019: “Yeah, and we’re excited the new SE went back to Touch ID because it still works with the face masks we’re now required to wear!”
Hamuko 7y ago
FaceID has never failed to work for me with sunglasses on.
- rootusrootus 7y ago
  Must be hit or miss. Never works for me if I have my sunglasses on.
WoahNoun 7y ago
My current biggest problem with FaceID is that it doesn't work when I'm wearing a mask. Which is pretty much anytime I'm outside right now. Never had an issue with glasses though.
- asaddhamani 7y ago
  Tell me about it. I hope Apple can address this, it's so frustrating to type in the password every single time, and some apps just refuse to work without biometric authentication (payments apps)
  - lancesells 7y ago
    I haven't confirmed this but I heard if you do alternate views with half a mask on both sides you might be able to unlock with a mask. I don't own a faceID phone so don't know if this is true.
- varjag 7y ago
  OTOH fingerprint sensors don't work with latex gloves. Hard to come up with PPE-friendly security!
- FireBeyond 7y ago
  I trained an Alternate Appearance with my mask on.
jayd16 7y ago
Pixel 4 face unlock works for me with big aviator sunglasses as well as not. I forget if I added another face or not though. Though, it doesn't work with a mask on and its not as fast so I do miss the fingerprint sensor.
tobtoh 7y ago
> It doesn't work when I am not wearing my glasses Are you holding the phone too close to your face? I was getting frustrated that FaceID wouldn't work for me in bed when I wasn't wearing glasses, but I discovered it was because it was holding it so close to my face to read the screen (I'm very short sighted) and the camera couldn't focus (yes my eyesight is that bad haha).
- klohto 7y ago
  He has a Pixel, not an iPhone
- servercobra 7y ago
  Yup, it took me a few months to realize this. In the morning when I need to unlock something, I have to double the distance between my face and the phone for FaceID to work.
zionic 7y ago
FaceID is so terrible. It's hard to imagine a company based out of sunny California invented an authentication system that requires you to remove your sunglasses. It also sucks in any bright environment like say... the beach. Which they don't have much of in California of course. When the ambient IR is too high the sensor can't see it's own tracking dots on your face so it can't build the 3D mesh to authenticate you. To make matters worse, FaceID also fails if you have a face mask on which is particularly relevant today.
- kenneth 7y ago
  Works perfectly fine in every pair of sunglasses I own.
- thebigspacefuck 7y ago
  With iPhone you can set up an alternate appearance to work with accessories like glasses/sunglasses or I assume a mask, though both might make it less secure. Personally I love Face ID. There are times it won’t work like when I’m actively brushing my teeth or wearing a mask, but those are rare enough for me and there times you can’t use Touch ID either like if you’re wearing gloves. Ideally they would have Touch ID under the screen and you could use either one.
- briandear 7y ago
  How should Face ID work with a mask that covers half or more of your face? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?
  - sn_master 6y ago
    Exactly. That's why having an under glass fingerprint sensor is such a good idea.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- ubercow13 7y ago
  Of course fingerprint sensors also fail in common situations like when your hand is sweaty or not clean, or the phone isn’t dry.
eliseumds 7y ago
It works for me at night, with/without glasses and also with a massive headset on. I haven't had any issue with Bluetooth so far (it was painful with a OnePlus before). Battery has been surprisingly decent too. The issues I have are a very slow Google Maps and the display is absolutely useless in a bright environment.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
dang 7y ago
(This subthread was originally in reply to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22878765 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22878765)
dcchambers 7y ago
Hate the face ID on my pixel 4. Requires me to hold my phone at the perfect angle/distance to work reliably, and even then, it's slower than the fingerprent sensor on my Pixel 1 was.

packetlost 7y ago

This sums up my experience with the Pixel 4 too. It's not enough to push me away from it, but it's a bunch of minor annoyances that make me have to enter my rather long passcode more often than I should have to.

jen20 7y ago
FWIW the Apple implementation of Face ID deals very well with both sunglasses and regular eyeglasses as well as the absence of them. Face masks, obviously, not so much however!
- packetlost 7y ago
  I don't actually have much of an issue with glasses or sunglasses on. Google's implementation isn't bad, but I do miss my fingerprint scanner.

ihuman 7y ago

> It doesn't work when I am not wearing my glasses FaceID works with and without my glasses. I can't remember if it learned this automatically, or if I added it as an "alternative appearance." Does the Pixel 4 have any options like that?

tclancy 7y ago
Mine FaceID with or without glasses/ sunglasses and I did not set anything up.
- rootusrootus 7y ago
  Anecdotally, mine doesn't work with sunglasses. I have to lift them up to get it to recognize me.
  - ceocoder 7y ago
    It really depends on sunglasses, Doesn’t work: - Ray-Ban wayfarers Works: - Ray-Ban aviators - Maui Jim Waterways
    - Hamuko 7y ago
      Works with my Polaroid Wayfarer clones.
asaddhamani 7y ago
FaceID is designed to work with or without glasses. > Face ID is designed to work with hats, scarves, glasses, contact lenses, and many sunglasses. Furthermore, it's designed to work indoors, outdoors, and even in total darkness. https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT208108 https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT208108
- Analemma_ 7y ago
  Although recently I have discovered that it doesn't work with face masks!
  - Robotbeat 7y ago
    Imagine explaining this to someone in 2019: “Yeah, and we’re excited the new SE went back to Touch ID because it still works with the face masks we’re now required to wear!”

Hamuko 7y ago

FaceID has never failed to work for me with sunglasses on.

rootusrootus 7y ago
Must be hit or miss. Never works for me if I have my sunglasses on.

WoahNoun 7y ago

My current biggest problem with FaceID is that it doesn't work when I'm wearing a mask. Which is pretty much anytime I'm outside right now. Never had an issue with glasses though.

asaddhamani 7y ago
Tell me about it. I hope Apple can address this, it's so frustrating to type in the password every single time, and some apps just refuse to work without biometric authentication (payments apps)
- lancesells 7y ago
  I haven't confirmed this but I heard if you do alternate views with half a mask on both sides you might be able to unlock with a mask. I don't own a faceID phone so don't know if this is true.
varjag 7y ago
OTOH fingerprint sensors don't work with latex gloves. Hard to come up with PPE-friendly security!
FireBeyond 7y ago
I trained an Alternate Appearance with my mask on.

jayd16 7y ago

Pixel 4 face unlock works for me with big aviator sunglasses as well as not. I forget if I added another face or not though. Though, it doesn't work with a mask on and its not as fast so I do miss the fingerprint sensor.

tobtoh 7y ago

> It doesn't work when I am not wearing my glasses Are you holding the phone too close to your face? I was getting frustrated that FaceID wouldn't work for me in bed when I wasn't wearing glasses, but I discovered it was because it was holding it so close to my face to read the screen (I'm very short sighted) and the camera couldn't focus (yes my eyesight is that bad haha).

klohto 7y ago
He has a Pixel, not an iPhone
servercobra 7y ago
Yup, it took me a few months to realize this. In the morning when I need to unlock something, I have to double the distance between my face and the phone for FaceID to work.

zionic 7y ago

FaceID is so terrible. It's hard to imagine a company based out of sunny California invented an authentication system that requires you to remove your sunglasses. It also sucks in any bright environment like say... the beach. Which they don't have much of in California of course. When the ambient IR is too high the sensor can't see it's own tracking dots on your face so it can't build the 3D mesh to authenticate you. To make matters worse, FaceID also fails if you have a face mask on which is particularly relevant today.

kenneth 7y ago
Works perfectly fine in every pair of sunglasses I own.
thebigspacefuck 7y ago
With iPhone you can set up an alternate appearance to work with accessories like glasses/sunglasses or I assume a mask, though both might make it less secure. Personally I love Face ID. There are times it won’t work like when I’m actively brushing my teeth or wearing a mask, but those are rare enough for me and there times you can’t use Touch ID either like if you’re wearing gloves. Ideally they would have Touch ID under the screen and you could use either one.
briandear 7y ago
How should Face ID work with a mask that covers half or more of your face? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?
- sn_master 6y ago
  Exactly. That's why having an under glass fingerprint sensor is such a good idea.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
ubercow13 7y ago
Of course fingerprint sensors also fail in common situations like when your hand is sweaty or not clean, or the phone isn’t dry.

eliseumds 7y ago

It works for me at night, with/without glasses and also with a massive headset on. I haven't had any issue with Bluetooth so far (it was painful with a OnePlus before). Battery has been surprisingly decent too. The issues I have are a very slow Google Maps and the display is absolutely useless in a bright environment.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

dang 7y ago

(This subthread was originally in reply to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22878765 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22878765)

dcchambers 7y ago

Hate the face ID on my pixel 4. Requires me to hold my phone at the perfect angle/distance to work reliably, and even then, it's slower than the fingerprent sensor on my Pixel 1 was.