“Apple software chief Craig Federighi has revealed that Face ID unlock on the new iPhone X will come with a hidden security feature, allowing users to press buttons on both sides of the phone to temporarily disable the facial recognition capabilities,” Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider. “”
“Keith Krimbel emailed Federighi this week, and received a response which he share on Twitter. Krimbel asked what measures Apple was taking to ensure a thief cannot take a user’s iPhone X, point it at their face and then run away with the device unlocked,” Hughes reports. “‘There are two mitigations: if you don’t stare at the phone, it won’t unlock,’ Federighi said. ‘Also, if you grip the buttons on both sides of the phone when you hand it over, it will temporarily disable Face ID.'”
“Other tidbits about Face ID on the iPhone X continue to trickle out, including the fact that the technology will be limited to one face per device at launch,” Hughes reports. “It was also revealed that Apple has been planning for Face ID to replace Touch ID entirely for over a year now, dispelling rumors that the company was trying to embed Touch ID into the iPhone X display as recently as this summer.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, anyone who was worried about iPhone X being held up to your face and unlocked with Face ID, there you go, Apple has thought through the details as usual. This is even better, faster, and easier than clicking the side button five times to disable Face ID.
SEE ALSO:
Police: Apple’s new Face ID technology will make it harder for authorities to bypass enhanced security – September 13, 2017
OMG… so when I’m being held at gunpoint to hand over my phone, not only do I need to fear for my life, but I also need to fear for my data and remember to grip the buttons on the iPhone so that my potential killer will not aim my phone at me to unlock it. Great. Maybe this will anger my potential killer so that he’ll just shoot me.
Such lovely thoughts. Thanks Apple.
We can only hope.
Wow… Sorry you live in Detroit, or S. Chicago. I suggest living somewhere in a suburb that has lots of people with lots of iPhones (AKA just about everywhere else…), and living somewhere where you really don’t have to worry about being held up by gunpoint. If I ever do, by chance, get held up in suburbia USA, I’ll gladly give the crazy – out of his hood hold-up-guy – anything he wants.
If you have a gun pointed at your face, the last thing you need to care about is your data. If you live, we will help you through the data breach.
Honestly, people spend so much time trying to bash the iPhone..,,. Yet, the Droid system is ok.
Settle down.
I did consider for a moment the robbery possibilities. Then I realised the gunpoint scenario has always been there with fingerprint ID and passcode too.
Did you not read the article?
You have to stare at the phone in order to unlock it. So, if you’re at the gunpoint, and you are demanded to hand over the phone, and the phone is then held up in front of your face, all you have to do is look away.
Besides, if you are at gunpoint, iPhone X is no different than any other device; a gun is a fairly compelling reason to unlock the phone, whether using passcode or fingerprint, or your face.
Wow, that’s great for those with things to hide, but I’m not satisfied yet with that answer. What if someone picks it up off your desk and points it at your face? Or if someone has physical access to the phone unknownst to you and they sneak up and hold it up in front of your face? At least if you are dead, incapacitated, or sleeping it shouldn’t unlock.
Bullshit scenarios. Someone can easily grab it from you when it’s already unlocked, but most snatch and grab thieves aren’t trying to get your data, they want to sell the device.
Wow, that’s great for those with things to hide, but I’m not satisfied yet with that answer. What if someone picks it up off your desk and points it at your face? Or if someone has physical access to the phone unknownst to you and they sneak up and hold it up in front of your face? At least if you are dead, incapacitated, or sleeping it shouldn’t unlock due to already announce requirements of eye contact.
Not just eye contact; you actually have to stare at your phone in order to unlock.
So, if someone swipes your phone and points it at your face, hoping to unlock it and access your data, just look away and it won’t unlock.
FAQ:
Q. Does the person’s face/head need to be attached to their body for Face ID to work?
A. No. Apple Face ID has been tested on all of these scenarios and works beautifully!
Q. Will Face ID work by pointing it at my ass?
A. In most cases, it will not, depending on the anatomy of your ass.
Q. I’m a beagle and people say all us beagles look alike. Will Face ID work for me?
A. Due to the precision of Face ID, it should work wonderfully for you, beagle.
Wait…what if some days I choose to self identify as a male and other days with heavy makeup cross dressing as a feminazi liberal lesbian? Will Face ID not assume my face gender???
There’s a known issue with Face ID when it comes to both feminazi liberal lesbians and republican senators.
Q. Will Face ID work by pointing it at my ass?
A. In your case…. likely. Perfect match!
But, but, what if you’re strapped to a stainless steel gurney and Goldfinger has a laser beam moving toward your crotch? Then Auric takes your iPhone X and points it at your face? Yeah, what about that, Federighi?
okay, then.
Botvinnik:
In the subsequent eight seconds when Goldfinger’s laser beam vaporizes your scrotum, you’re not going to really care who has access to your iPhone X.
Sincerely
Craig Federighi
Apple Inc.
PS: Good luck at your audition with the Vienna Choir Boys.
The Craigster.
In a freak gambling accident, I both lost my nose and developed amnesia. I’d love to get back into my iPhone X, but it won’t authenticate me. Can Apple help?
But I thought you lost your fingers in a freak woodworking accident years ago?
What if you set it up pointing to a different body part?
Get your mind out of the gutter, I was thinking of the palm of my hand.
When you start setting up your TouchID for fingerprint, iPhones (5s through 8) go through a process of asking you to place your finger on the sensor (and then reading it, and showing a stylised representation of what it had read from your finger), then asking to move your finger around a bit and press it again. If you try scanning another part of your body (say, a toe, or part of the palm of your hand), it would ask you to use the tip of your finger and show you which part you should put.
With face ID, in order to set it up, you would have to point the phone at your face and align it with some markers on the screen. If you tried pointing it at your hand, it simply wouldn’t work. Clearly, if it can accurately tell the difference between the faces of twins, it isn’t that dumb not to tell the difference between a face and a hand in the first place.
This temporarily disables face recognition. Is there any way to permanently disable it?
Yes, you simply don’t bother setting it up in the first place. Or if you have already set it up, just delete your face ID profile form the phone.
Same as Touch ID (which has been around for three years already).
So–do you have to press down the power button and both the volume up AND down buttons, or just power button and EITHER of the volume buttons?