• Apple VR headset could be delayed to 2023

Apple

will finally allow

iPhone users to unlock the phone without having to remove their mask, a problem that for the last two years has made the

FaceID

biometric identification system

used by smartphones and some

iPad

models of the brand less useful.

The company launched this facial identification system in September 2017 as a substitute for

TouchID

, the fingerprint reader that iPhones had until then.

This new system, according to Apple, is much safer.

The probability that the phone will mistake a person's face is one in a million.

With TouchID, on the other hand, a false positive could occur in one in 50,000 fingerprints.

To achieve this high level of effectiveness, FaceID not only compares the image of the face, but also

its three-dimensional geometry and other parameters

that make it very difficult to deceive the system, even using highly realistic masks.

But the

coronavirus

has turned out to be a formidable adversary for FaceID.

Since the system needs to see the geometry of the nose and mouth to make a correct identification, FaceID cannot work when wearing a protective mask.

When it does not recognize the user,

the phone asks for the unlock PIN

, which can be cumbersome or impractical in some situations, such as when paying with the mobile.

Apple has tried to fix this issue by allowing users to unlock iPhone without FaceID or PIN if they have an

Apple Watch

on, but the solution isn't ideal.

Now, in the next operating system update (iOS 15.4, available now in beta for developers), Apple will allow FaceID to be configured to recognize users when they are wearing a mask.

To achieve this, the phone must perform a new calibration of the user's face, since it will use more reference points around the eyes to supply those that it cannot recognize in the nose and mouth.

Apple also notes that FaceID works best when it's set to recognize your entire face.

The company hasn't given a release date for this new version of iOS, which also includes some new features, like new emojis and

Universal Control

, a feature that lets you use your Mac's keyboard and mouse to control a nearby iPad.

The final version for users usually arrives a week after the developer beta is announced.

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Know more

  • iPhone

  • covid 19

  • Masks

  • Lockdown

  • de-escalation

  • deconfinement

  • new normal

  • regrowth

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