How to use Face ID with a mask

Problems unlocking your iPhone using facial recognition in times of coronavirus? We explain how to use Face ID with mask.

El use of the mask it has already become commonplace in most of the world as an effective means of containing the pandemic. Almost all of us have become accustomed to the inconvenience that this entails in our daily lives, but iPhone users have found one more annoyance: not being able to unlock your devices using Face ID.

Face ID is a technology developed by Apple in 2017 that allows you to unlock the iPhone X and later models, as well as make payments and other functions, through facial recognition. This is achieved by comparing the user's face with an image of the user previously stored in the memory of the device. A great idea. But no one in 2017 could imagine that a few years later we would be experiencing this situation.

Of course, the fact of wearing a half face covered with a mask makes it difficult for Face ID to work properly. And this is a problem that all iPhone users have to deal with, from the iPhone X onwards.

Among the newer generations of users, the use of Face ID, faster and easier, has displaced the passcode method. However, now they are forced to use it again to unlock their devices. The question is: How can the iPhone be configured to unlock through Face ID despite wearing the mask?

Apple's stopgap solution

Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), received a barrage of complaints back in May 2020, when the use of the mask became mandatory in many parts of the world. His reaction was quick: in the iOS 13.5 beta version, the system detected that the user was wearing a mask and automatically displayed a message on the screen to enter the password. In a way, it was giving one step back, but this idea at least avoided the frustration of iPhone users, who suddenly found that Face ID no longer worked.

However, this was also of no use to those who had (or have) previous versions. In your case, they need to disable Face ID on their own:

How to set up iPhone to use Face ID with mask

But this is not a real solution, just a way around the problem. What users really want is to be able to use Face ID with a mask. In fact, Uncovering your face to use your mobile in a space where it is not allowed can cause problems. Fortunately, there are other ways to resolve the issue:

Method 1

It is a solution that seems complicated but in reality it is not so complicated. And works.

It consists of folding the mask in half, keeping one of the ears held with the rubber band, so that the fabric covers only half of the face, right or left. Next you have to go to the iPhone settings, access Face ID and access with our password. Once there, you have to select the option "Set up an alternate appearance".

Probably after some unsuccessful attempts, in which the message will appear warning us that our face is covered, the camera True Depth it will end up successfully scanning our face. Once the operation is finished, the other half of the face must be covered and a new scan must be carried out. After this, there should be no problem using Face ID with the mask on.

Unfortunately, this system it will not work if an alternate appearance had already been set up previously. In that case, it only remains to reinstall Face ID and configure it again.

Method 2

If the previous method did not work (or we already had an alternative appearance saved in Face ID), you can try the second method. First, you will have to reinstall Face ID and start over, but this time At the time of making the first scan, we will cover one of the sides of the face with the mask.

Once this is done, we will go to the alternative appearance option, this time placing the mask on the other side of your face, the one that had been left free in the first scan.

After the two scans, we can use Face ID comfortably without having to remove the mask.

Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch

There is still one last and recent fix coming from the hand of iOS 14.5, which is currently in beta and will probably arrive on iPhones in early April.

Obviously, it will only be of use to those who have a Apple Watch with WatchOS 7.4 (currently in beta version) and who have a passcode enabled on their iPhone. In case of not having it, there is no major problem. Just go to Settings, select Passcode and Activate passcode. Another requirement is to also have wrist detection activated.

To activate the Unlock an iPhone with Apple Watch function, proceed as follows:

1. Go to settings.
2. Access Face ID & Passcode.
3. Enter your password.
4. Select Unlock with Apple Watch.

Doing this, as long as the watch is on our wrist and unlocked, when we try to unlock our iPhone with Face ID (even if the iPhone has detected that we are wearing a mask), it will unlock automatically. At the same time, a message will appear on the Apple Watch to notify us that the iPhone has been unlocked and ready to be used.

How to disable Face ID

The simplest option to end the problem is to disable Face ID as a means of unlock iPhone. The steps to follow are:

1. Go to settings.
2. Access Face ID & Passcode.
3. Enter your password.
4. Disable the use of the biometric function to unlock the iPhone.

After doing this, our iPhone will require an access code every time we need to unlock it or identify ourselves in Apple Pay.