Opinion: Touch ID improves iPad security at cost of Smart Cover unlock convenience

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  • Reply 41 of 129
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    Touch ID is a great feature for the iPad, and I find myself using it all of the time. I keep my iPads naked, and I never did use any smart covers, so I don't really care about that.

  • Reply 42 of 129
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    slurpy wrote: »
    They're never bringing it back, and if you honestly think there's a chance there might, that just reflects on how grotesquely poor your insight is about the company, and how little you understand about how they operate (not surprisingly). And that's pretty sad, considering your post count here. 

    And no, anyone who has a shred of sense can see that weight wasn't the main priority of removing the switch. More likely:

    1. It's obvious Apple does not like extra physical controls
    2. The switch is redundant, barely used, and does not deserve to exist solely for the single function it serves
    3. It's extra moving parts that be worn out, and components inside the device which add complexity
    4. It takes away from the simplicity, beauty, and streamlines nature of the device
    5. It probably was an obstacle to increased thinness (although this reason is not as important)

    All of which supersede "weight" which I'm sure is negligible. Anyone who has followed Apple for even the shortest time can see the obviousness of the above factors- except you, of course. 

    Arg....now you've just given him an opening to trash ?Watch (with it's digital crown and button below the digital crown). :)

    For me the fact that you can achieve the functionality of the mute switch in control center makes it an unnecessary physical control. And my guess is the number of people who disable control center on the lock screen on iPad is VERY small.
  • Reply 43 of 129
    slurpy wrote: »
    WOW, someone FINALLY said something about this. It's by far my biggest gripe with the iPad AIr 2, and I was pretty shocked when I realized that it is impossible to use Touch ID with appstore/3rd party apps, without also using it or a passcode on the lockscreen. My iPad is shared with other family members in the house, and a passcode isn't used, opting for the auto wake smartcover feature. I was looking forward to using Touch ID for downloads and signing in/out of apps, as well as others in my family, but unfortunately can't make use it as adding security to lockscreen is a no-go. I REALLY hope Apple reconsiders this for the iPad, which is often used only in the home, by multiple people, and does not need to have a lockscreen security. 

    Why not?

    You can have up to five people use Touch ID on one iPad.
  • Reply 44 of 129
    Although it doesn't bother me, I think the writer has a good point. Why do you have to have the passcode in order to use touch ID, if you only want it for payments and unlocking third-party apps? I don't need passcode at home :-)
  • Reply 45 of 129
    rogifan wrote: »
    The mute switch removal is a pain, because if you forget whether you've muted it or not, you have to check by unlocking, going to the control centre etc. whereas with the physical switch, you could simply glance at the side and flick it if necessary.

    So yes, I hope they bring the physical switch back for the big iPad. I'm sure they only removed it to save four grams of weight anyway.

    You don't have to unlock your device to use control center.

    You do if you care about security.
  • Reply 46 of 129
    knowitall wrote: »
    rogifan wrote: »
    What a pointless article. It takes, what, a second or less to unlock your device using Touch ID? There are plenty more worthy things to write an editorial about. I'll just give a few suggestions:

    • Apple needs to make 32GB the base storage for all iOS devices.
    • 2GB RAM should be standard on any new iOS devices (and probably should have been with iPhone 6/6 Plus). I guarantee you the next iPhones will have 2GB RAM.
    • Apple needs a VP of App Store responsible for app approval/editorial, App Store curation and developer relations.
    • iPad needs innovation beyond making it thinner. 64-bit is great but how well is it being utilized/advertised? Apple has 10 digital pen patents/patent applications. Why have we not seen one for the iPad yet? Why cede that market to Microsoft and Surface?
    • Apple should seriously think about changing their policy of tying new iOS software to iPhone releases. Clearly iOS 7 and iOS 8 did not ship when they were ready but rather when the new phones had to ship. Apple is all about creating the best products and best consumer experience. Software not ready for prime time doesn't provide that experience. For me iOS 9 should be about two things. 1) fixing bugs and polishing iOS 8 into smooth, reliable bug free software. A lot of UI changes and features were added in the last two years. Apple needs to polsih what they have before adding a lot of new features. 2) any changes necessary to support ?Watch SDK and bringing native apps to ?Watch.

    These are just a few examples off the top of my head if AI is looking for a problem to editorialize about.

    • Truly integrating keychain, so it works with apps too and gets a separate settings entry to really manage the keys and be able to search them (not a setting within safari). Currently web apps function better than real apps, this is insane!
    • Getting rid of the settings app in its current form, the use of ten level deep menus is insane and should be replaced by a completely configurable GUI arrangement.
    • The iPad keyboard is insanely cumbersome and should be user configurable (plugins are not acceptable due to security), the biggest hindrance is being required to switch the keyboard to be able to enter numbers. In landscape mode the lack of this is ridiculous. The keyboard should instead be a copy of Apples hardware wireless keyboards.
      It's also necessary to be able to make the keyboard almost transparant and be able to move and resize (pinch) the keyboard.
    • I almost forgot: the iPad should be at least A4 sized and have no artificial constraints. So it should be possible to use Xcode for example and to use it as a developers machine. In a few years time this will be the norm (with or without Apple).

    I agree with all your points, especially the A4 size.
  • Reply 47 of 129
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Benjamin Frost View Post





    I agree with all your points, especially the A4 size.



    It may not be full A4 sized, but I am sure looking forward to the bigger iPad coming hopefully next year sometime.

  • Reply 48 of 129
    slurpy wrote: »
    So yes, I hope they bring the physical switch back for the big iPad. I'm sure they only removed it to save four grams of weight anyway.

    They're never bringing it back, and if you honestly think there's a chance there might, that just reflects on how grotesquely poor your insight is about the company, and how little you understand about how they operate (not surprisingly). And that's pretty sad, considering your post count here. 

    And no, anyone who has a shred of sense can see that weight wasn't the main priority of removing the switch. More likely:

    1. It's obvious Apple does not like extra physical controls

    Digital Crown

    2. The switch is redundant, barely used, and does not deserve to exist solely for the single function it serves

    Digital Crown

    3. It's extra moving parts that be worn out, and components inside the device which add complexity

    Digital Crown

    4. It takes away from the simplicity, beauty, and streamlines nature of the device

    Digital Crown

    5. It probably was an obstacle to increased thinness (although this reason is not as important)

    Digital Crown

    All of which supersede "weight" which I'm sure is negligible. Anyone who has followed Apple for even the shortest time can see the obviousness of the above factors- except you, of course. 

    Which is no doubt why Apple decided to add extra physical controls to the Apple Watch in the form of the digital crown.

    You better write to Jonny Ive right away and inform him of his grotesquely poor insight into how Apple designs things, before they make the mistake of keeping the digital crown.
  • Reply 49 of 129
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by rob53 View Post

     

    It's ironic people are complaining about security features on Apple devices when they (we) scream at the NSA for saying we should have any encryption. If you leave your iPad unlocked, anyone can get to any of your data. The complaints about a shorter unlock time is like saying you're willing to leave your car or house unlocked for several minutes to hours but get mad when someone simply opens your unlocked door. If you want security, then use it and quit complaining.


     

    I think you're missing the point of the article because you're not understanding how others may be using their iPad.  I have an iPad that I mostly use for movies and TV shows.  Occasionally, I do some reading with it, play some music, and various games.  There's nothing sensitive on it.  Go ahead thief, screw me with my progress on Angry Birds!!!

     

    So for the most part, turning off my passcode protection is perfectly fine.  And that's great because the smart cover instantly wakes your iPad and you're ready to go.

     

    But... if I choose that option, there can be no using Touch ID at all.  Since Touch ID API is available to developers, that means any app that uses it can't use Touch ID to unlock or log me in.

     

    This is what the author is talking about.  Situations where an iPad is being used only at home, with no sensitive data, but with the desire to be able to use Touch ID to log into a few apps.

     

    And no, this isn't the world's biggest problem, but it's something that would be nice to have, and there's nothing wrong with pointing out ways Apple can achieve perfection.

     

    That said, I don't think what the author wants is possible due to the way Touch ID works.  In order for Apple to make this change, it would have to remove the Touch ID from the secure enclave and store the data somewhere else... that's doable, but highly undesirable due to the security issues involved.

  • Reply 50 of 129
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    You do if you care about security.

    Oh well then unlock your device and toggle it off/on from control center. #firstworldproblems

    And no, it's not coming back.
  • Reply 51 of 129
    freerangefreerange Posts: 1,597member
    Seriously? What a waste of our fk'n time with this ridiculous opinion! How fk'n hard is it to put your finger on the home button to have it activate unlock almost instantly... Seriously, get a life...
  • Reply 52 of 129
    rogifan wrote: »
    You do if you care about security.

    Oh well then unlock your device and toggle it off/on from control center. #firstworldproblems

    And no, it's not coming back.

    I don't recall mentioning my boomerang.
  • Reply 53 of 129
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Why not?

    You can have up to five people use Touch ID on one iPad.
    Which would also grant five people access to your iTunes account. Not necessarily a good idea if some of those people are kids.
  • Reply 54 of 129
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  • Reply 55 of 129
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    Somewhat off topic: I wish there was a way to super lock my iDevice. For instance, I'd like to be able to give Siri a simple command that would disallow using Touch ID, until my passcode is inputted, and prevent notifications from appearing on the display. Also, I'd like to prevent an iDevice that is turned on from showing notification. For example, right now it shows the phone number or email address iMessages came from but only applies the common name once you authenticate. This is potentially more of a security issue than the common name, but I think no notifications should appear after a fresh power cycle.
  • Reply 56 of 129
    There's a lot of ways they need to begin to differentiate iOS between the iPad and iPhone, and the fact that they haven't done so yet is confusing and frustrating. Why the iPhone 6 Plus got a better keyboard and we got the same old iPad keyboard was the first bit of confusion...
    I still wonder that, they added that keyboard, but it lacks split feature like the ipads which is preferred more for a phablet, but then the IPad doesn't have that keyboard at all, which is more preferred then, did someone not think it threw, they seem like backwards implementation.
  • Reply 57 of 129
    This does point out that maybe in future versions that Touch ID and better software support for the Smart Cover should be in it for future versions, but for now it doesn't really matter.
  • Reply 58 of 129
    If placing your thumb (or finger) on the Home button is too much trouble just leave the iPad unlocked, no password required. Of course if you chose to do that don't complain when someone hacks your device.

    There are things in this world to complain about, there are things about the iOS to complain about, but putting your thumb on the Home button isn't one of them.
  • Reply 59 of 129
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    If placing your thumb (or finger) on the Home button is too much trouble just leave the iPad unlocked, no password required. Of course if you chose to do that don't complain when someone hacks your device.
    Did you even read the article?

    The problem isn't this, it's that turning off a passcode means you can't use TouchID for ? Pay or the iTunes/App Stores.

    There's no good reason why these cant be separated.
  • Reply 60 of 129
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member

    I'm in basic agreement with the author, even though I don't have a smart cover. Touch ID often fails when my fingers are dry, such as in wintry weather. It's not even possible to train Touch ID when fingertips are too dry (likely due to lack of conductivity), thus it's impossible to train Touch ID on a single finger to account for all moisture levels.

    I'd like more customization in where/when Touch ID is active.

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