COVID times: Apple's latest in-built feature allows you to use Face ID to unlock the phone without removing your facemask

The latest 15.1 update allows you to authenticate via an Apple Watch that has been paired
COVID times: Apple's latest in-built feature allows you to use Face ID to unlock the phone without removing your facemask

With all the Covid waves hitting several parts of the world, we are still not out of the woods. This means that the days of pulling down your mask every time you need to unlock your phone continue. Or maybe not. Tech-giant Apple has come to the rescue. An in-built feature allows you to use Face ID to unlock the phone without even touching your mask.

The latest 15.1 update allows you to authenticate via an Apple Watch that has been paired. “If you’re wearing an Apple Watch or one is near your phone, you can simply glance to unlock your phone.  The phone will receive haptic (transmitting information through touch) feedback from the watch to your phone.
The new feature works on iPhone X and those that follow. It will also be an in-built feature in Apple watch series 3 later, according to a statement issued by Apple.

“The TrueDepth camera system looks for the user’s face when you wake the iPhone by raising it or simply tapping the screen. When a face is detected, Face ID confirms the user’s attention and intent to unlock it by detecting if the eyes are open and directed towards the camera. The camera system will map the geometry of the face along with 2D and depth information before the phone unlocks it. 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,” says Kaiann Drance, Apple’s VP for product marketing.

According to her, the original enrollment data of your face has to be able to adapt to natural changes over time. “This was very important to us because we know our lives are fluid, our looks change. So, we use advanced machine learning that’s used to adapt to these changes in your appearance. So that means you can be recognised even after you change your haircut, put on glasses or take them off or you gradually grow a beard,” she says.

The introduction of this new feature has been belittled as a first-world problem by some, but there are lots of people, especially medical professionals, who think of it as extremely valuable because it keeps them from lowering their mask, while treating patients. Unlocking has finally been unmasked.   

How to unlock your iPhone with your Apple watch
✥ Make sure your Apple Watch is on your wrist and unlocked
✥ Wake your iPhone by raising it or tapping its screen
✥ Just glance at your iPhone to unlock it. Then you can swipe up from the bottom of your iPhone screen to begin using it.

Face ID is designed to work with hats, scarves, glasses, contact lenses, and select sunglasses

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