What Is Face ID Used for on iPhone?
Face ID is used for many of the same things as Touch ID. Most important among these are:
Unlocking the iPhone in place of entering a passcode. Supplying your Apple ID password or other passcodes. Authorizing Apple Pay transactions.
What Devices Support Face ID?
Face ID is supported by the full iPhone X series: the iPhone X, iPhone XS and XS Max, and iPhone XR. It’s a safe bet that, just like Touch ID started on the iPhone and has been added to other devices like the iPad, Face ID will eventually appear on other Apple devices such as the iPad.
How Does Face ID Work?
The notch at the top of the iPhone screen on compatible devices is where the sensors used by Face ID are located. These sensors include:
Dot Projector: This projects over 30,000 invisible dots onto your face. The dots are used to map the structure and depth of your face. That builds a three-dimensional “unique facial map,” according to Apple.Infrared Camera: This camera reads the dots from the Projector and captures an image. Flood Illuminator: This additional infrared light helps ensure that the system works even in the dark.
The facial map captured by the infrared camera is matched against the data stored on your iPhone to unlock or authorize the Apple Pay transaction. It’s also used to create animoji, animated emojis mapped to your face. The system is smart and sensitive enough, according to Apple, that it can recognize you even if you change your haircut, wear glasses, grow or shave a beard, age, or wear a cloth mask. That said, there have been some cases in which Face ID has misidentified people, including twins and children who look a lot like their parents.
Is My Face Scan Stored in the Cloud?
No, Face ID face scans are not stored in the cloud. All face scans are stored directly on your iPhone. They are held in the “Secure Enclave,” one of the iPhone’s chips that’s dedicated specifically to securing sensitive data. This is also where fingerprint information created by Touch ID is stored.
How Secure Is My Face Scan?
The way that the Secure Enclave works makes Face ID very secure. Your facial scan itself isn’t actually stored on your iPhone. Instead, when the facial scan is created, it’s converted to a number that represents the scan. That’s stored on your iPhone. Even if a hacker were able to access the data in your iPhone’s Secure Enclave (which is very unlikely), all they would get is a number, not an actual scan of your face. That means they would not be able to use the data to submit your information to another facial recognition system.
How to Set up and Use Face ID
Setting up Face ID is extremely simple—in fact, you probably did it while setting up your new iPhone. Just position your face in the onscreen frame and roll your head around until the circle around the edge of the frame is filled in. Repeat as many times as the phone tells you and you’re done. If you skipped that step during setup, you can always go back and add Face ID later. To do this, go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode and follow the onscreen instructions. You can also add other faces to Face ID on your iPhone including someone you trust as well as alternative pictures of you (with and without a beard or glasses, for example).
How to Disable Face ID
If you need to quickly disable Face ID, press the iPhone’s side button and volume down buttons at the same time. In order to enable Face ID again, you’ll need to re-enter your passcode.
How Does Face ID Compare to Other Smartphone Facial Recognition Systems?
Despite a healthy dose of skepticism when it was announced, Face ID has been a hit with users and critics. The overall consensus is that it’s very accurate, very fast, and very simple. Overall, the transition away from Touch ID to Face ID has been faster and smoother than most people expected. It’s also proved, once again, how good Apple is at this sort of innovation. When Face ID launched there was one major phone out with this kind of technology: Samsung S8. Unfortunately, that system has been shown to be very easy to fool, including by holding up a photograph. Because of this, the Samsung system appears to not be terribly secure. Samsung won’t allow its facial scans to approve financial transactions (the way Touch ID can on an iPhone).
Use Face ID When Wearing a Face Mask
The iOS 14.5 update allows users to unlock their iPhone X and later using Face ID while they’re wearing a face mask. To use this feature, you’ll need an unlocked Apple Watch Series 3 or later and your iPhone nearby. Just glance at your iPhone, and then your Watch will issue haptic feedback letting you know the iPhone is unlocked. In iOS 15.4, Apple added mask functionality without a synced Apple Watch. After you re-scan your face, the iPhone will have enough information to unlock based on the visible part of your face.
