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Touch ID is an entirely superior technology and Apple is profoundly stupid for removing it. It doesn't have to be in the screen, just put it on the back. The le
by lwansbrough 6y ago
Touch ID is an entirely superior technology and Apple is profoundly stupid for removing it. It doesn't have to be in the screen, just put it on the back. The lengths they'll go to offset the removal of Touch ID are astounding, from IR face tracking, to degraded biometric security, and now to requiring an Apple Watch to unlock the phone with your mask on. Talk about a Rube Goldberg machine.
- ascari 5y agoI have sweaty palms most of the time so Touch ID has been a massive problem for me.
- hipjiveguy 5y agotouch id never works - i've tried it a ton of times, and it eventually forgets my fingerprints or something, and just stops working... max it works is like 2 weeks, then... it's like i'm a new person. I have even tried training the same finger lots of different times, still no luck. And I've tried it on iphone and mac, no go.
- conception 6y agoBoth is fine with me. FaceID is great for any time you've got gloves on. I wish they had an external version of it, e.g. an apple keyboard with touchID or support for generic webcams for FaceID so it'd work when docked, etc.
- crazygringo 6y agoThe new iMac has it on its external wireless keyboard. So it's coming, just slowly. FaceID surely won't ever work with webcams however -- it uses a custom-built depth sensor separate from the camera.
- masklinn 6y ago> FaceID surely won't ever work with webcams however -- it uses a custom-built depth sensor separate from the camera. iMacs could absolutely have the entire camera module, depth sensor included. Things would be rather more complicated for the laptops, the cover is thinner than an iPhone. Though obviously not as bad as the protruding back cameras, the front cameras module is still rather deep and would likely require increasing the depth of the cover to fit flush.
- WorldMaker 5y agoOn the Windows side you can find Windows Hello certified third party cameras with the necessary IR and depth sensors. (I've seen Intel and Logitech options in stores.) Since the death of the Kinect the cost has generally gone way back up as it is a niche of a niche just to support easier logins and few applications anymore are using the IR/depth sensors as much (though even this far past the Kinect, Windows itself has additional eye tracking/attention tracking features these days than it ever had before for accessibility reasons). Surely Apple could release a FaceID-compatible USB webcam if they wished. It's probably less likely for them to FaceID certify third party hardware, though. (That said, I think Apple's other excuse for not supporting FaceID on more hardware is it uses the ML capabilities of some of their mobile A* chipsets. Maybe another thing they might claim can only be done with M1+ macOS.)
- robertoandred 6y agoPlain webcams don't have the 3d/infrared tech that FaceID uses.
- csmiller 6y agoThe Apple Watch has a nice function where it can substitute for TouchID/password entry for things like unlocking your Mac, authorizing changes to settings, unlocking 1Password etc. Makes using my laptop docked way more enjoyable. https://support.apple.com/guide/watch/unlock-your-mac-with-apple-watch-apd4200675b8/watchos https://support.apple.com/guide/watch/unlock-your-mac-with-a...
- TetOn 6y agoApple Watch is not required; it is a convenience option that can be used to unlock the phone if you are masked.
- lwansbrough 6y agoWhat I said was "requiring an Apple Watch to unlock the phone with your mask on", so I'm not sure what you're correcting.
- WorldMaker 5y agoYou can always unlock a phone with your mask on with a passcode. The Apple Watch method is an added convenience, not a "requirement".
- esolyt 6y agoAnother reason to buy an Apple Watch. It works out perfectly for Apple.
- apetrovic 6y agoI have a dry skin and Touch ID works for me 50% if I'm lucky.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- kiwijamo 6y agoI have sweaty skin and my success rate is at least as bad as yours. I confess to be very surprised at the love for TouchID here. I've used both TouchID and FaceID and I find the success rate of the latter to be much better. Perhaps we, dry and sweaty skins, are edge cases and most people apparently have 'normal' skin?
- hkh28 6y agoCompletely agree. The new iPad Air even got it integrated in the sleep button, so Apple has the ability to continue offering Touch ID on all devices and keep the full screen display.
- mirthflat83 6y agoSorry, it’s not. Face ID: Just pick up your phone and your phone automatically unlocks with your face. This experience is way superior than having to position your finger at a specific place every time you want to unlock it. Putting it on the back is even worse, you need to actually pick up your phone from the desk just to unlock it. I swear HN readers would create devices with the worst UX possible.
- katbyte 5y agothey both have their place, but with touchid my phone is often unlocked before i even look at it or without looking at it which is nice at times.
- stjohnswarts 5y agoIt's not "way superior" it's just different and slightly easier.
- microtherion 6y agoI like Face ID with phones. For iPad, getting the angle right for the face to be recognized seems trickier, so overall the Touch ID experience was superior.
- neilalexander 6y agoI've actually found the opposite to be true - my iPad Pro will Face ID happily in any orientation and quite far off centre, whereas my face has to be very much centred for my iPhone to do the same.
- cpuguy83 6y agoProbably you have the "requires attention" mode activated on your phone.
- neilalexander 6y agoI have "Require Attention" enabled on both devices.
- Dort 6y agoPutting TouchID on the back would render it unusable for me due to my phone case.
- drngdds 6y agoCases can (and do, for other devices) have a hole in the back for the fingerprint scanner
- r00fus 6y agoI used to think that way, then I was forced (through damaged previous device) to consider a FaceID phone and I'm sold now. Cooking with TouchID is an exercise in frustration. Ideally I'd like them to be able to combine auth mechanisms but we can't have everything.
- norbertdragan 6y agoApple should bring the same Touch ID-enabled power button to the iPhone that they have on the new iPad Air. That would make both the Touch ID and Face ID folks happy.