Has COVID killed face recognition

kah22

My faithful 6s has been through the wars on more than one occasion and now she’s been retired from active service so come the Apple event this weekend I will be buying a new  iPhone 11 but wondered to myself is ‘face recognition dead in the water’ now we are in the new normal!

Anyway I hadn’t thought much about face recognition and how it works until a few days back when doing some final checking. Then it struck me; wearing a mask anytime I go out or go shopping makes face recognition almost impossible !  OK perhaps I’m a bit paranoid but if I have to open my phone and enter my PIN number does that not decrease the level of security offered. Is it a matter of more is less during these trying times !  I exaggerate the issue to make a point 

So I’m wondering what those bright young men and women over there in Cupertino, California, are going to do about it. Will we see a return to finger ID in some form or another, will we see a virtual finger ID sent to the phones via software updates.  Maybe instead of reading our faces  they’ll read our hands like in Mission Impossible 😎. I’m sure Apple have some very talented software engineers working on the problem right now

Perhaps if I hadn’t been as careless with my 6s I’d still hang on to her until the finger scan returns as I’m sure it will.

Kevin

mrochester

The current situation of wearing masks in some public spaces is temporary. 

chistery

I'm using my Apple Watch more now for payments, as it just requires a double click.

[Deleted User]

They should never of get rid of touch ID, it should always have been a security option along side face ID. They could have had it integrated with the power button like on Sony phones for example.

jackieblack

mrochester said:

The current situation of wearing masks in some public spaces is temporary. 

This ^^^  (🤞🏻)
Plus, it’s only an issue when you’re out in a pubic indoor space which, for most people, will be a very small % of the occasions that you’re logging in to something with face recognition. Most people will be doing their banking etc from home.

jon81uk

You always have the option to enter the PIN instead of using Touch or Face ID. So the level of security to use the phone and Apple Pay doesn't change.

I've recently switched from iPhone 7 to 12 and find it frustrating having to enter the PIN instead of touch/face ID when wearing a mask. But hopefully the mask thing won't be around for more than another year.

Zellah

kah22 said:

 Then it struck me; wearing a mask anytime I go out or go shopping makes face recognition almost impossible !  

1) As others have said the current restrictions are only temporary.
2) I've never had any problem (eg with shop staff) removing my face covering for a few seconds to pay using Face ID on Apple Pay. 
Its not a big deal, it really isnt.

Zellah

Deleted_User said:

They should never of get rid of touch ID, it should always have been a security option along side face ID. They could have had it integrated with the power button like on Sony phones for example.

No thanks, perfectly happy with using Face ID and/or pass code on my iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Mini. Touch ID is soooo yesterday...

liggerz87

Have you tried redoing the face id with the mask on

[Deleted User]

liggerz87 said:

Have you tried redoing the face id with the mask on

That doesn’t work. 

jon81uk

liggerz87 said:

Have you tried redoing the face id with the mask on

Apple have already changed software to go straight to asking for the PIN if it detects a mask.