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Please please please be true. TouchID is objectively superior to FaceId, by a long shot. It is my soap box... but TouchID RARELY failed and could be activated
by MobileVet 6y ago
Please please please be true. TouchID is objectively superior to FaceId, by a long shot. It is my soap box... but TouchID RARELY failed and could be activated BEFORE you had the phone in front of you. FaceID fails constantly and MUST be in view to start the unlock process.
TouchID has a single failure mode (and a half) that isn't that common. Wet / dampness. Solution, dry your finger, try again. Gloves are the 'half' mode as what can you expect, you can't access the finger.
FaceID has no less than 3 FREQUENT failures and a myriad of other smaller less frequent ones. Occlusion, distance and light.
Occlusion - Have your face resting on your palm... fail. Have a hat on, fail. Have a mask on...
Distance is an interesting one, but for those of us with terrible eyesight, it is constant. Phone call / text at night? Put the phone up to my face to see... FaceID fail (too close). I have to move it back away so I can't read it to unlock... hoping it did unlock before I move it forward again to read it.
Light - This really shows up when outdoors in the sun. The IR sensor gets washed out and can't work. It isn't that bad, but it does happen frequently enough to notice.
The other thing that is SO annoying about FaceID is that is has no idea WHEN you want to use it... see a face 'I must SCAN IT!' Oh, that is someone else, now you are locked out and need your password. Pick up your phone, SCAN! Oh, that is your pocket, now you need your password. The latter can be turned off, the former, not so much.
I ALMOST bought an 8 instead of a Xs when I finally upgraded, but OLED pushed me over the edge. I do love the screen, but I scorn FaceID daily and was hoping for TouchId to return to the 12. Fingers crossed for the 13, lol.
- rmrfrmrf 6y agoI live in a cold climate, so I was happy to be done with TouchID. Then coronavirus happened and now it doesn't recognize me with a mask on.
- can16358p 6y agoJust curiosity: does it start recognizing with the mask after some time?
- marpstar 6y agoIn my anecdotal experience, it does not. Apple has made it easier to bring up the PIN prompt when it fails, though: https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/20/21265019/apple-ios-13-5-out-now-unlock-iphone-face-mask-id-exposure-notification-covid-19 https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/20/21265019/apple-ios-13-5-o...
- pfranz 6y agoAnecdotally, after some of the recent updates I've noticed like a 10% match instead of 0%. It was really nice when they pushed an update to recognize a mask and fail quickly to a pin since that's what happens most often when shopping.
- tzs 6y agoYou can try enrolling your masked face as a second face. I had some success with that, but it would still miss enough to be annoying, but I've heard it works well for some people.
- cpuguy83 6y agoHave you tried switching the "Require attention for Face ID" off? Usually it can get you before you are "looking at it". I've been using Face ID since the xs, and so far my experience is, outside of mask wearing, much better than Touch ID. But I also try not to touch my phone when I'm out (and as such am wearing a mask). I even occasionally can't use Touch ID on my MacBook because of a damp finger, and that sees far less usage than the phone. I think early on low light (or rather barely any light) was a problem, but I can unlock it in a dark room these days... not sure what that means for accuracy... but it works well.
- MobileVet 6y agoI haven’t turned off the ‘require attention’ option... actually didn’t even know about it. Thanks!
- klysm 6y agoTouchID has another interesting failure mode for me that's probably quite rare: after I go climbing, my skin is so worn that it doesn't recognize any of my fingerprints.