Face ID Will Only Recognise One Person Per Device

[Maura]

According to AppleInsider, Face ID on iPhone X will only recognise one person per device. This means that unlike with Touch ID, where you can save several fingerprints, only the one user will be able to unlock the phone using this method. This could be quite annoying if you’re showing someone a picture on the phone, for example, and the phone keeps locking and you have to keep taking it back and staring at it in order to unlock it.

However, as you might expect, Apple has devised a way of avoiding this and other potentially annoying scenarios. According to another story on AppleInsider, Apple’s software chief Craig Federighi has said that Face ID can be temporarily disabled by pressing buttons on either side of the iPhone X when you hand it to someone else. This was in response to a question from Yoke Remote CEO and developer Keith Krimbel, who emailed Federighi to ask what was to prevent a thief snatching your iPhone X then pointing it at your face to unlock it before running off with it unlocked.

“There are two mitigations: it you don’t stare at the phone, it won’t unlock,” wrote Federighi in his reply to Krimbel. “Also, if you grip the buttons on both sides of the phone when you hand it over, it will temporarily disable Face ID.”

Federighi also answered Krimbel’s question about whether Face ID would work when the user is wearing sunglasses, stating, “Most sunglasses let through enough IR light that Face ID can see your eyes even when the glasses appear to be opaque. It’s really amazing!”

Sources: Face ID on Apple's iPhone X will be limited to one person per device

Gripping buttons on both sides of iPhone X disables Face ID, recognition works with most sunglasses

 

[iDan]

I hope that's the case or at least it's a good explanation of why the Face ID didn't work at the event. I can't wait to try it out, I think that's certainly the future.

I do wish it supported more then one face. It's probably not a big deal on the phone, but I have several people setup with touch ID to use my iPads.