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The mask requirement in many places makes life difficult for smartphone users.
On the one hand, mobile phones are being used more and more frequently at the checkout to pay.
On the other hand, in order to be admitted to bars, restaurants and some shops at all, you have to show your digital vaccination certificate.
In both cases, face recognition, which is used to unlock many smartphones, is a stumbling block because it doesn't work with a mask.
This is about to change on iPhones.
Apple has tried several times to make the unlocking process easier for mask wearers.
First, the company trained its facial recognition, called Face ID, to recognize when someone was wearing a mask.
Since iOS 13.5, users with face masks have been able to unlock using a numerical code.
At the beginning of 2021, the update to iOS 14.5 introduced the option of having the iPhone unlocked by an Apple Watch, provided you own and wear one.
The first test
With the update to iOS 15.4, it should now be possible for all iPhone users whose cell phones have Face ID to unlock their device with face recognition despite having a mask on, regardless of whether they have an Apple Watch or not.
This option is currently only available to registered developers, because iOS 15.4 is still in the so-called beta test phase.
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Is this now called the “multi-glasses function”?
We have the beta version of iOS 15.4. loaded onto a test iPhone and tried it out. The process of registering a face for Face ID is no different from the previous method: you start the procedure in the
settings
under
Face ID & Code
, hold the iPhone towards you and describe a circular movement with your head twice. In this way, the iPhone's sensors can record the facial features of the respective person. According to the instructions, it is particularly important here to really register the entire face. Face recognition with a mask "uses the unique characteristics in the area around the eyes for authentication," according to Apple.
After we carried out this procedure, face recognition actually worked reliably and quickly with both medical and FFP2 masks.
Another innovation intended to make Face ID more reliable is the ability to register multiple glasses.
This could benefit users who use different glasses in everyday life, such as reading glasses and work glasses.
Face ID with a mask does not work with sunglasses.
As a further extra, iOS 15.4 will bring a total of 37 new emojis, from the saluting face to the troll.
How to try this?
Experience has shown that Apple also releases a public preview version with a slight time lag to the developer version, which you can load onto your iPhone even without developer status.
That could happen in a few days, but it could also take a few weeks.
There are no fixed dates for this.
If you want to install the beta, you should first create a backup copy of your device, preferably locally via iTunes on a Mac or PC.
The slower alternative is a backup in iCloud.
Such a backup is particularly necessary in the event that you want to end the beta test and switch back to the previous operating system version.
Apple explains how to do this in this guide.
You can then use your Apple ID to register or log in to the beta program on Apple's website if you have previously participated in such a beta test.
Then you register your iPhone and download a so-called configuration profile.
As always with beta versions, this is unfinished software and is likely to contain bugs that can sometimes cause an app or device to crash.
If you don't have a second device and depend on a working iPhone for work, for example, you should wait with the installation until Apple releases the final version of iOS 15.4.
The company has not yet announced a date for this.