iPhone X Face ID misfires resolved with a simple swipe in iOS 12

AppleInsider · June 5, 2018 7:49PM

Reattempting to unlock an iPhone X with Face ID is now even easier to start in the first beta of iOS 12 provided to developers, with users now able to try again straight away after a failure with a single swipe of the smartphone's display.

Revealed on Reddit and confirmed by AppleInsider, a failure to unlock an iPhone X running iOS 12 will display the number pad, along with a notification advising "Swipe up for Face ID or Enter Passcode." Users can then swipe up from the Home Bar at the bottom to retry Face ID, or continue entering their passcode as normal.

The change simplifies and speeds up the time it takes to restart a Face ID scan compared to earlier iOS releases. Previously, users either had to lock and wake the display again, or from the lock screen after a failed authentication, a small slide up of the Home Bar then back down would also force another attempt.

As usual, the gesture can only be used to retry Face ID authentication for a certain number of attempts, after which users are required to enter their passcode to unlock their iPhone X.

The undocumented gesture is one of a number of features included in iOS 12, with other Face ID and TrueDepth camera array-related improvements including the ability to register "alternate appearances" to a device, which can be used to allow two people to unlock one iPhone X using Face ID. Animoji, another major TrueDepth feature, has been expanded with four more characters, as well as the user-customizable Memoji and tongue detection.

The iOS 12 developer beta also adds group notifications, changes to Do Not Disturb, Screen Time app usage monitoring and restricting, FaceTime calls with up to 32 participants, the Measure app, and changes to Apple Books, Stocks, Apple News, and other first-party apps.

A public release of iOS 12 is expected this fall, accompanying Apple's annual iPhone refresh.

patchythepirate · June 5, 2018 8:18PM

Yes! Seems like a no-brainier function to have on day one, but I'll take it!

jd_in_sb · June 5, 2018 9:25PM

You know we have made huge strides since the 1983 Motorola DynaTAC when a cell phone has tongue detection.

edited June 2018

fastasleep · June 5, 2018 9:39PM

patchythepirate said:

Yes! Seems like a no-brainier function to have on day one, but I'll take it!

Yeah, been trying to nail the timing on re-Raise to Waking to get it to FID to fire again and figured they’d make this change eventually. Awesome.

patchythepirate · June 6, 2018 12:45AM

Now if there was only a way to easily access the second most commonly used feature on my X, Control Center..

fastasleep · June 6, 2018 12:51AM

patchythepirate said:

Now if there was only a way to easily access the second most commonly used feature on my X, Control Center..

Have you tried Reachability on the X yet?

douglas bailey · June 6, 2018 1:57AM

Um... I've pretty much been doing this for months on iOS11. Well... I just click 'Cancel' on the keyboard and then swipe up. No need to sleep and wake the iPhone.

Anyone else been doing this?

So, if they've changed it and I don't have to click 'Cancel', great. But it wasn't too difficult to begin with.

bestkeptsecret · June 6, 2018 6:02AM

patchythepirate said:

Now if there was only a way to easily access the second most commonly used feature on my X, Control Center..

To be honest, my finger muscles are now trained to work with the X, so accessing Control Center, swiping up to unlock, turning the camera or flashlight on from the lock screen are all very easy now.

Put an iPhone with Touch ID in my hand and watch me fumble...

rayz2016 · June 6, 2018 6:19AM

patchythepirate said:

Yes! Seems like a no-brainier function to have on day one, but I'll take it!

Indeed.

orup70 · June 6, 2018 8:53AM

Okay… maybe I’m doing something wrong, but on my iPhone, I just lower and raise the phone again when a Face ID misfires and the password screen automatically rescans my face and unlocks the phone without having to touch the screen at all.

I don’t have Face ID automatically activated when raising the phone though – don’t remember the official name for this setting right now. Don’t know if this changes anything?

So, I have never been bothered with the password screen on Face ID misfires.

fastasleep · June 6, 2018 9:18AM

orup70 said:

I don’t have Face ID automatically activated when raising the phone though – don’t remember the official name for this setting right now. Don’t know if this changes anything?

Require Attention? It checks for you looking directly at the iPhone before working. So you could be facing directly at it, but your eyes are looking up at 45 degrees and it won't work. It also means someone can't unlock it while you're asleep.

appledapple · June 6, 2018 10:56AM

Why even have to swipe? Why not tap something that says “Retry Face ID Again” like many apps already do??

Face ID is wonderful, but I’ve found that having it in a mount in my car makes it difficult for it to see my face from a slightly longer distance. I’m doing this weird hunch to look at my phone. Anyone else? Lol

rogifan_new · June 6, 2018 1:00PM

patchythepirate said:

Now if there was only a way to easily access the second most commonly used feature on my X, Control Center..

I’m assuming you hold your X in your left hand? Control Center placement doesn’t really bother me but it’s rare that I’m trying to access it one handed.

orup70 · June 6, 2018 3:14PM

fastasleep said:
Require Attention? It checks for you looking directly at the iPhone before working. So you could be facing directly at it, but your eyes are looking up at 45 degrees and it won't work. It also means someone can't unlock it while you're asleep.

Thanks, but I checked and did already have Require Attention active. The setting I thought of was “Raise to Wake”. I also use “Tap to wake” under Accessibility.

But I have now tried all combinations of these setting and you never have to lock and raise your phone to rescan your face. Just move your phone away from your face and back again to have Face ID rescan your face automatically. No need to touch of swipe the screen. Works almost perfectly, today in iOS 11.

patchythepirate · June 6, 2018 4:16PM

rogifan_new said:

patchythepirate said:

Now if there was only a way to easily access the second most commonly used feature on my X, Control Center..

I’m assuming you hold your X in your left hand? Control Center placement doesn’t really bother me but it’s rare that I’m trying to access it one handed.

Ah, good insight. Yes, I'm right hand dominant but mostly use the phone in my left hand, often while multitasking. Just re-trying it now, it's surprising how much hand gymnastics I need to do (relatively speaking), to get the opposite upper corner.

It may be imperfect, but, barring a better solution, I think Apple should put a control center button in between the flashlight and the camera buttons.

patchythepirate · June 6, 2018 4:18PM

fastasleep said:

patchythepirate said:

Now if there was only a way to easily access the second most commonly used feature on my X, Control Center..

Have you tried Reachability on the X yet?

Trying to activate reachability is a bit finicky for me, but even if that worked reliably for me, it wouldn't help me from the lock screen.

fastasleep · June 7, 2018 2:06AM

orup70 said:

fastasleep said:
Require Attention? It checks for you looking directly at the iPhone before working. So you could be facing directly at it, but your eyes are looking up at 45 degrees and it won't work. It also means someone can't unlock it while you're asleep.

Thanks, but I checked and did already have Require Attention active. The setting I thought of was “Raise to Wake”. I also use “Tap to wake” under Accessibility.

But I have now tried all combinations of these setting and you never have to lock and raise your phone to rescan your face. Just move your phone away from your face and back again to have Face ID rescan your face automatically. No need to touch of swipe the screen. Works almost perfectly, today in iOS 11.

Cool, I'll try that — thanks. I didn't mean lock and re-raise, sometimes lowering and re-raising works but it may be more what you're describing that's actually happening. Whether I do this or cancel/swipe again has more to do with what I'm doing and how I'm holding it at the time.

fastasleep · June 7, 2018 2:08AM

patchythepirate said:

fastasleep said:

patchythepirate said:

Now if there was only a way to easily access the second most commonly used feature on my X, Control Center..

Have you tried Reachability on the X yet?

Trying to activate reachability is a bit finicky for me, but even if that worked reliably for me, it wouldn't help me from the lock screen.

Huh, yeah — looks like Reachability doesn't work while on the lock screen, whether it's unlocked or not. I didn't notice as I have CC turned off when locked and probably usually clear the lock screen when unlocking most of the time.

iPhone X Face ID misfires resolved with a simple swipe in iOS 12

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