The new service is currently being tested, but may be available to everyone in the coming weeks or months for the iPhone 12 and new acquisitions. Samantha Murphy is a young woman with CNN Business’ Kelly Face ID, one of the specific features of the iPhone, will now work without having the user to remove their screen, according to iOS 15.4. Recently I was standing outside a busy New York subway station disguised as a celebrity, hoping not to be noticed. My sunglasses, baseball cap, and my KN95 black screen protected my eyes.
But my iPhone immediately recognized me as its rightful owner, without needing me to open my eyes. The device unlocked quickly when I bought up to use Face ID. For the past two years, many iPhone users, myself, have lost some of the flexibility of being able to unlock the device unnecessarily with their eyes because they are masked. Apple’s latest software update aims to combat that pandemic.
The update, iOS 15.4, aims to ensure Face ID, one of the iPhone’s signature features, works without requiring the phone owner to remove their screen in public, a technology service provided with a few facial details came to analyze. A new feature is also in beta and may be rolled out for iPhone 12 and new devices in the coming weeks or months. (The timer may be a little ironic considering many states are raising screen orders enthusiastically.)
I recorded an early version of the updated and tested Face ID with a series of masks, black K95 masks, masks with a beard and even one with Kevin’s face from the movie “Home Only.” Face ID works with many of these on the first try, but the general experience does not match. I was often asked to enter my passcode after the failed attempt.
Despite opening the device while incognito in glasses and cap on my first attempt, repeat this action again hit or miss. Apple later told me that the software update was intended to work with eyeglasses but it could work with sunglasses in some situations, while Face ID could gather enough information to identify a user. It is, however, designed to work with a cap. The combination of the two worked about half the time.
While impressions of the feature work as often as it does, blending results highlight the challenge Apple and other technology companies must face to allow users to unlock their devices with their eyes – a feature that it is available on other smartphones as well – when part of the user. eyes are reserved.
Face recognition software often works by comparing the dimensions between different facets in one image to those in one or more other images. Apple’s Eye ID tool compares a saved image of a smartphone owner’s face with a photo taken when they try to unlock the phone. Face masks push many companies – including Apple – to focus on better identification and ensure people are based on the part of the eye above the nose and, more importantly, the eye area.
The company said that because Face ID with a screen uses less biometric information, circumstances may arise when a user is not as comfortable as when their full screen is displayed and therefore the user may need to enter their passcode. Given that the software is still in beta, it is likely that Apple will find information to improve the experience. Apple has tried other ways to unlock the iPhone while wearing a screen. Last year, Apple rolled out a partial solution allowing anyone with an Apple Watch to use the device to verify their identity without removing their mask.
However, there are limitations: devices must be proximity; you also need to enter a passcode to make transactions via Apple Pay, App Store or iTunes if you enter the screen; and obviously, you need to have an Apple Watch. The-CNN-Wire & 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
