4 ms·

Having used fingerprint unlock on an iPhone for a while, it's kind of a pain in the ass sometimes. * it doesn't work if your finger is even slightly wet, so us

Having used fingerprint unlock on an iPhone for a while, it's kind of a pain in the ass sometimes. * it doesn't work if your finger is even slightly wet, so using it while in the kitchen is annoying (like when trying to consult a recipe.) Even if you wipe your hands on a towel or your pants, it still might not work * it doesn't work if you're wearing latex/nitrile gloves, like when cleaning, or doing car work, etc. * it doesn't work if you're wearing gloves, which is a borderline necessity 3-4 months out of the year if you're planning on being outside for more than 5-10 minutes, or if you plan on using your hands for anything while outside. 6+ months out of the year if you're on a bike.

jchw 4y ago
> * it doesn't work if your finger is even slightly wet, so using it while in the kitchen is annoying (like when trying to consult a recipe.) Even if you wipe your hands on a towel or your pants, it still might not work To be fair, this one genuinely varies per fingerprint sensor. Some of them work under surprisingly bad conditions. > * it doesn't work if you're wearing latex/nitrile gloves, like when cleaning, or doing car work, etc. True. > * it doesn't work if you're wearing gloves, which is a borderline necessity 3-4 months out of the year if you're planning on being outside for more than 5-10 minutes, or if you plan on using your hands for anything while outside. 6+ months out of the year if you're on a bike. This is really the same thing as the last one, but it depends on where you live. Also, gloves tend to not be great on touchscreens anyways. My issue with Face ID in particular is that it does not immediately show a PIN unlock, which means when it isn't working quite right you might fumble for a little bit trying to figure out how to get it to stop trying. Also, while it is again totally possible to accidentally unlock with fingerprint if you are not careful, it is hard to _not_ unlock with facial recognition on accident. (Not to mention, compounding on the problem, the fact that a whole lot of us are wearing face masks in public places right now, and therefore unable to easily unlock our phones with Face ID. Not having a convenient unlock option in public is quite a problem; PIN works, but for example, for payments I'd argue it really isn't ideal, and in public everyone can easily see your PIN when you type it.) Because of those issues, to me, fingerprint authentication feels like it's mostly a UX positive over PIN alone, whereas facial recognition + PIN is actually worse than just PIN because I legitimately can't avoid a lot of the awkwardness. I mean, anyone can get used to it and deal with it, but I absolutely felt a lot better with Touch ID than Face ID, and I doubt I'm alone on that one.
- walterbell 4y ago
  Touch ID is excellent and fortunately has returned via the power button on iPads. Let's hope it arrives on iPhone power buttons.

jchw 4y ago

> * it doesn't work if your finger is even slightly wet, so using it while in the kitchen is annoying (like when trying to consult a recipe.) Even if you wipe your hands on a towel or your pants, it still might not work To be fair, this one genuinely varies per fingerprint sensor. Some of them work under surprisingly bad conditions. > * it doesn't work if you're wearing latex/nitrile gloves, like when cleaning, or doing car work, etc. True. > * it doesn't work if you're wearing gloves, which is a borderline necessity 3-4 months out of the year if you're planning on being outside for more than 5-10 minutes, or if you plan on using your hands for anything while outside. 6+ months out of the year if you're on a bike. This is really the same thing as the last one, but it depends on where you live. Also, gloves tend to not be great on touchscreens anyways. My issue with Face ID in particular is that it does not immediately show a PIN unlock, which means when it isn't working quite right you might fumble for a little bit trying to figure out how to get it to stop trying. Also, while it is again totally possible to accidentally unlock with fingerprint if you are not careful, it is hard to _not_ unlock with facial recognition on accident. (Not to mention, compounding on the problem, the fact that a whole lot of us are wearing face masks in public places right now, and therefore unable to easily unlock our phones with Face ID. Not having a convenient unlock option in public is quite a problem; PIN works, but for example, for payments I'd argue it really isn't ideal, and in public everyone can easily see your PIN when you type it.) Because of those issues, to me, fingerprint authentication feels like it's mostly a UX positive over PIN alone, whereas facial recognition + PIN is actually worse than just PIN because I legitimately can't avoid a lot of the awkwardness. I mean, anyone can get used to it and deal with it, but I absolutely felt a lot better with Touch ID than Face ID, and I doubt I'm alone on that one.

walterbell 4y ago
Touch ID is excellent and fortunately has returned via the power button on iPads. Let's hope it arrives on iPhone power buttons.