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Apple is increasingly making me look stupid, something I couldn't imagine happening when the iPhone first came out. Few days ago I saw a friend of mine unlock

by zaidf 14y ago

Apple is increasingly making me look stupid, something I couldn't imagine happening when the iPhone first came out. Few days ago I saw a friend of mine unlock her phone using facial recognition. I was amazed. She was surprised at my amazement. I feel lots of iPhone users have similar moments when they see their friends with android use "magical" looking features the iPhone is slow to adopt.

ScottWhigham 14y ago
The facial recognition is very cool. Does it take longer than a swipe+pin? I guess it's just a matter of the hardware - how long it takes the camera to focus, how long it takes the chip to process, etc. It's just that I can swipe+pin in probably 1 - 1.5 seconds and I'd be surprised if facial recognition is faster.
- zaidf 14y ago
  Great question but dont assume speed of unlocking is what everyone based their decision on. I can tell you my mom would rather use facial recognition than entering a pin even if the latter was faster. She did point out quirks like if her hair isn't brushed it may not work etc. It could well be that the technology isn't polished enough for Apple's standard but I know when I see an Android user use it, I walk away impressed and questioning why my iPhone can't do that.
  - jonknee 14y ago
    > It could well be that the technology isn't polished enough for Apple's standard but I know when I see an Android user use it, I walk away impressed and questioning why my iPhone can't do that. We're living in a post Siri, post Maps world. Apple is not concerned if software works before they decide to ship it.
    - taligent 14y ago
      > Apple is not concerned if software works before they decide to ship it. The VP in charge of iOS Software Engineering was publicly fired over Siri and Maps. Pretty sure they do care.
      - jonknee 14y ago
        No, Scott Forstall was not publicly fired over Siri and Maps. He was fired because Steve Jobs was not around to protect him and he made a lot of enemies. None of it was public, there was a press release about the new roles but that's it.
- SeripisChad 14y ago
  Takes about the same time to unlock in my experience(EVO 3D). I'd really prefer for a different unlock method all together. I'd like my phone to be locked in case its lost/stolen, but I'd like it unlock faster. It's be fine wearing a Bluetooth-enabled accessory (ring,tie pin, device secured to the shoes/belt/pants/wallet in some fashion) that would bypass the lock because I'm with-in a given radius to the device.
  - chousuke 14y ago
    Something like that is probably possible with NFC tags. My phone doesn't support them so I can't give details, but I'm fairly certain it's doable.
- RivieraKid 14y ago
  It's usually very fast, around 1 second. In fact, they had to slow it down, because sometimes it recognized the face immediately, making the user wonder whether there's any security check involved. But it's useless at night, which is why I don't use it.
- ConstantineXVI 14y ago
  Depends on the lighting; can be anywhere between instant and 2s. Trade-off is the camera's useless in the dark, takes maybe 1s for the phone to realize this (or there's an override button) and falls back to pattern/PIN.
deleted 14y ago
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hrktb 14y ago
If that's what makes you look stupid, I guess it's still pretty good. Facial recognition doesn't work for everyone nor everywhere. As you put it it's "magical" and when the next guy unlocks your phone with it's face it's also part of the magic. It reminds me a lot of the same discussion was done for the Bump app, where just bumping two devices together transferred your contact infos. Magic. Except it might not be your contacts but the ones of some random guys bumping roughly at the same time at the next table, or a few kilometers from you. It was part of the magic too. It still worked out 90% of the time, but that's not a feature I'd feel stupid not to have when better, simpler and more reliable ways were available. Android has really good basic things. I personally don't think shiny magical features are what's to be the most envied.
smackfu 14y ago
Another amazing one is someone with the Swype keyboard who is good at it. They can type way faster than I can on the iPhone while looking like they are just scribbling random stuff.
ulyssesgrant 14y ago
my friend was showing me his galaxy nexus with facial unlocking, so I pulled up his Facebook profile picture on my phone and unlocked it ;)

by zaidf 14y ago

ScottWhigham 14y ago

The facial recognition is very cool. Does it take longer than a swipe+pin? I guess it's just a matter of the hardware - how long it takes the camera to focus, how long it takes the chip to process, etc. It's just that I can swipe+pin in probably 1 - 1.5 seconds and I'd be surprised if facial recognition is faster.

zaidf 14y ago
Great question but dont assume speed of unlocking is what everyone based their decision on. I can tell you my mom would rather use facial recognition than entering a pin even if the latter was faster. She did point out quirks like if her hair isn't brushed it may not work etc. It could well be that the technology isn't polished enough for Apple's standard but I know when I see an Android user use it, I walk away impressed and questioning why my iPhone can't do that.
- jonknee 14y ago
  > It could well be that the technology isn't polished enough for Apple's standard but I know when I see an Android user use it, I walk away impressed and questioning why my iPhone can't do that. We're living in a post Siri, post Maps world. Apple is not concerned if software works before they decide to ship it.
  - taligent 14y ago
    > Apple is not concerned if software works before they decide to ship it. The VP in charge of iOS Software Engineering was publicly fired over Siri and Maps. Pretty sure they do care.
    - jonknee 14y ago
      No, Scott Forstall was not publicly fired over Siri and Maps. He was fired because Steve Jobs was not around to protect him and he made a lot of enemies. None of it was public, there was a press release about the new roles but that's it.
SeripisChad 14y ago
Takes about the same time to unlock in my experience(EVO 3D). I'd really prefer for a different unlock method all together. I'd like my phone to be locked in case its lost/stolen, but I'd like it unlock faster. It's be fine wearing a Bluetooth-enabled accessory (ring,tie pin, device secured to the shoes/belt/pants/wallet in some fashion) that would bypass the lock because I'm with-in a given radius to the device.
- chousuke 14y ago
  Something like that is probably possible with NFC tags. My phone doesn't support them so I can't give details, but I'm fairly certain it's doable.
RivieraKid 14y ago
It's usually very fast, around 1 second. In fact, they had to slow it down, because sometimes it recognized the face immediately, making the user wonder whether there's any security check involved. But it's useless at night, which is why I don't use it.
ConstantineXVI 14y ago
Depends on the lighting; can be anywhere between instant and 2s. Trade-off is the camera's useless in the dark, takes maybe 1s for the phone to realize this (or there's an override button) and falls back to pattern/PIN.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

hrktb 14y ago

If that's what makes you look stupid, I guess it's still pretty good. Facial recognition doesn't work for everyone nor everywhere. As you put it it's "magical" and when the next guy unlocks your phone with it's face it's also part of the magic. It reminds me a lot of the same discussion was done for the Bump app, where just bumping two devices together transferred your contact infos. Magic. Except it might not be your contacts but the ones of some random guys bumping roughly at the same time at the next table, or a few kilometers from you. It was part of the magic too. It still worked out 90% of the time, but that's not a feature I'd feel stupid not to have when better, simpler and more reliable ways were available. Android has really good basic things. I personally don't think shiny magical features are what's to be the most envied.

smackfu 14y ago

Another amazing one is someone with the Swype keyboard who is good at it. They can type way faster than I can on the iPhone while looking like they are just scribbling random stuff.

ulyssesgrant 14y ago

my friend was showing me his galaxy nexus with facial unlocking, so I pulled up his Facebook profile picture on my phone and unlocked it ;)