Face ID: a hassle or no?

Submitted by drDVMHomie t3_zxr8bh in iphone

It's time to upgrade from my (now mic-less) 8, and a friend who's gone before me tells me he really misses Touch ID. Worse when he's in mid-stream of some project or consult with someone, he's got to whip out his phone, scan his face, and get it open. He longs for his lost Touch ID, ranking the hassle level at 3-4 on a 10 scale (10 being horrible).

What's your take on the diff? Is he just got his undies in a bundle or do you who've upgraded and lost Touch ID not even miss it for a second?

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0000GKP t1_j21uyqr wrote

> he’s got to whip out his phone, scan his face, and get it open

Otherwise known as “look at it” which you already do every time you use it.

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nitroben2 t1_j22uq95 wrote

The difference is that with a fingerprint it's already unlocked when you first look at it. With my old phone i could even open one of my favorites tray apps before looking at my phone. I know in reality the difference is negligible (around 1 second, maybe less) but 3 months in it still bugs me sometimes.

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Athiena t1_j26lhwd wrote

Looking at the Lock Screen is an important step

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Wasaab t1_j21zdt0 wrote

I wash my hands all the time and Touch ID didn’t recognize my prints 50% of the time, Face ID is near flawless. Only gripe I had Face ID is when I’m trying to unlock my iPhone when I’m laying in bed with half my face on the pillow, now I need to lift my head so it can see my face. 😂

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Charles_Mendel t1_j220b2d wrote

FaceID is superior. I would never go back to TouchID.

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autokiller677 t1_j23wkr6 wrote

Exactly my experience as well. It works so good from so many angles, I just don’t think about unlocking my phone anymore. Having to touch a specific spot feels outdated to me.

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bkl7flex t1_j28bjh7 wrote

Recently switched from 8+ to a 14pro, and the mere fact that i can swipe up and it’s unlocked is great. Got your hands with dirt or wet? No problem, just swipe up anyways

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vayloo10 t1_j21vuib wrote

I don’t miss Touch ID at all and I thought I would

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bumwithshoes t1_j21vzeh wrote

I thought I would miss Touch ID but not. Face ID is legit no matter the lighting conditions. All it takes is a glance while picking up phone👌

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Grimlocklou t1_j21u3g4 wrote

It was weird at first making sure the phone wasn’t too close to my face. I don’t even notice it 9 times of 10 it’s that simple. I’m going to be looking at my phone anyways so I pick it up, one easy swipe and I’m in. No holding my finger/thumb in a specific spot. I do still have Touch ID on my work iPad and it feels more delayed using my print anymore, but don’t mind it either.

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midsprat123 t1_j21xaic wrote

FaceID is super quick like 95% of the time. Every now and then it acts dumb and takes forever to recognize my face.

Much better than my touchID iPad that takes forever to register my finger/if it sits too long locked, I have to type in my passcode

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29stumpjumper t1_j220zth wrote

It’s likely waiting for you to look at the screen on the times it takes longer. See if you have require attention for face id enabled in the settings. I'd keep it on, but you can turn it off if it annoys you.

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GrreggWithTwoRs t1_j23819u wrote

It is a problem for me, probably about 3-4 on an annoying scale as your friend said. I often use my phone in bed with head half in pillow -- FaceID almost never recognizes my face in this position and I have to either move my head or use the passcode.

Even if I'm in a normal upright position, it has a higher error rate for me than TouchID, though it's mostly accurate and fast.

All that being said, the upgrade is totally worth it regardless. I went from a 7 to a 12mini, and it can just handle way more stuff and without delays/glitches.

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djkdjkdjk3 t1_j242r66 wrote

HATED Face ID at first, was almost a dealbreaker, but now would never go back. You really do get used to it!

I also think some scenarios where Touch ID > Face ID have been solved with Apple Watches anyway, like not wanting to pull out and stare at your phone during meetings/conversations. A Watch replaces the old glance at my phone on the table trick, or slide my phone out of my pocket juuust a bit trick.

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brizzodaizzo t1_j21zf0b wrote

It’s “different” but good. Works well 99.8% of the time

And the best part, u don’t have to dry off ur finger to open ur phone.

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scallopedtatoes t1_j221iyf wrote

Not a huge hassle, but I prefer Touch ID. I have a habit of putting my finger on the reader as I'm taking a phone out of my pocket, which I still do for my Android phones that have biometric scanning. So face ID takes longer for me than unlocking with my finger. Also, when I'm working as a medic and wearing a mask in medical facilities, it's an obvious PITA.

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bigdogxxl t1_j223v9i wrote

It’s fine. There are definitely times when I’d prefer Touch ID (why can’t we just have both?) but for 90% of the time FaceID does the job without much hassle.

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IAmDrNoLife t1_j22wa94 wrote

FaceID is the single best thing that Apple has ever implemented into their phones.

<rant>

That is my take. I hate, absolutely fucking hate, TouchID. Almost never worked. Only gave me frustration. It was so annoying.

With FaceID, I take out my phone, I look at it and swipe up, and then I can use it. It always just works. Anyone who ever complains that "but I have to look at it", well yes, in order to use your phone, you do have to look at it. This goes for both Touch- and FaceID. At least with FaceID, that's the only thing you need to do (and it actually works).

It's so bad, that I'll never buy a phone that does not have FaceID. My iPad doesn't have it, and it's annoying. More often than not, I just use the password, so I don't have to sit through several attemps at using TouchID that will inevitably fail multiple times, thus forcing me to use the password anyways.

Same thing goes for laptops. My current one has a fingerprint scanner, and it works like fucking 10% of the time. Sure, it's cool when it works, but it's so rare.

I really despise fingerprint scanners.

</rant>

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GrreggWithTwoRs t1_j2384dy wrote

So odd, TouchID works for me flawlessly and immediately nearly every time, whereas FaceID is slower even when it recognizes me quickly, and has way more errors.

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Dry_Contribution9928 t1_j236tfs wrote

I agree with you, Face ID is just so amazing and I was really happy to get it on my laptop becuase my old laptops fingerprint scanner straight up stopped working after the first 2 days.

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MDM3331 t1_j23cg3y wrote

Something is up with either the way you add your prints or they keep changing for some reason for it to fail so often. Even first gen touch id doesn't mess up this bad for most people

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IAmDrNoLife t1_j23cxy2 wrote

Might be. The phone I had was a 6S, and the fingerprint scanner worked at best 50% of the time.

All I can say with certainty is that I followed the setup instructions to a T. I also ended up doing the setup process many times over, because it was incredible how bad the fingerprint scanner worked. But it was always bad.

But yeah, it caused me great frustration. So I'm really happy about FaceID. That, and the gesture based navigation, was the reasons I switched to an iPhone X as soon as it came out.

But yeah, if it wasn't clear before. My iPhone had a better fingerprint scanner than my laptop. That I will give Apple. While it was still trash (in my opinion), it still worked better than my current laptop does.

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Crystalline07 t1_j22xgjx wrote

With my se second gen, the touch id was so unreliable. Half the time it doesn’t work. With my 14 plus, the face id unlocks my phone so damn fast it’s unreal. I thought I would miss touch id, but I don’t. Do not worry about it, face id is mush better.

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3dforlife t1_j235pzw wrote

Face ID is good, but not perfect. When I'm not looking straight it doesn't always work.

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The_Gecko t1_j25awue wrote

Literally just upgraded from a 2020 SE to a 13 and I was also worried about face ID but it's actually FINE, and I can now never go back, it's great.

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CompetitionAway t1_j21urc2 wrote

I do miss Touch ID coming from the S21 ultra but Face ID gets the job done. Is it a hassle? Touch ID under the screen can be a hassle at times and even had to reset it from time to time. A physical button Touch ID is smooth and great. Face ID can be a hassle if you’re driving and don’t have the right mount to auto scan for Siri commands but that should be less of a worry as safety should be your concern.

Overall, both have great use cases but on apple, Face ID is seamless (without mask) so I would say you will adapt :)

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Old_Goat_Ninja t1_j225exd wrote

Face ID is superior to Touch ID in every way IMO. Wash your hands, in the rain, grease from food, and a million other things, and Touch ID no longer works. Face ID works every time, it doesn’t care if I have a hat on, glassed on, beard, no beard, it doesn’t care, it works.

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drDVMHomie OP t1_j2282uv wrote

Okay, overwhelming response in favor. Going for it, thanks.

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nitroben2 t1_j22vuxz wrote

Most (maybe all?) Longtime apple users have adapted and forgotten the advantages of fingerprint, or the difference is unnoticeable. The people who prefer the advantages of touch over face (including myself) seem more adamant about it. I didn't let the lack of fingerprint hold me up from buying my iphone but it is still on my list of gripes.

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thefnboogeyman t1_j22955r wrote

It was semi slow when it first released but now you hardly notice it’s there.

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nitroben2 t1_j22vy73 wrote

Maybe you hardly notice, but i notice every time I'm doing something else and want to check something on my phone.

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nitroben2 t1_j22vft9 wrote

Mark me in the still wishing i had a fingerprint scanner column. There is the aforementioned time delay of waiting to have the phone in front of my face before starting the unlock process, which i still get irritated by occasionally after 3 months of use. I also wear a mask more often than i wear gloves which leaves the face scanner much less useful in a 'relative number of situations it won't work' metric.

Edit to add: there's also the situation of not looking directly at my phone but wanting to view something on it. Particularly when it's laying on the desk/table while I'm working on something else and want to reference the phone. With touch i just touch it to wake and view what was last on the screen, even while holding something in my hand. But with face i have to put down what I'm holding to pick up the phone and look directly at it.

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nitroben2 t1_j22wkm9 wrote

Obviously if i could have both that would be best (yay unlocking while wearing gloves!) however, if I could choose i would take the touch unlock option.

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MDM3331 t1_j23c5co wrote

Well I hate touch id on my ipad 9, it's first gen. Seriously apple. Face id on my iphone is a breeze. I have attention features off so I don't even have to look at it, it unlocks faster this way I think.

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EVOrider1998 t1_j23ivbd wrote

I started on the 6s in 2015. When the XR came out, I got one and tried it for a month. I liked the battery life, but I couldn’t get Face ID to work well for me. It also probably didn’t help that I was so use to a home button. So, I gave the XR to my daughter and I went back the the 6s, which is still being used today.

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WinterInfamous7213 t1_j23jz9n wrote

Face ID is 100% more comfortable. My only regret on my iPad Air 4 is the Touch ID.

Especially since they introduced mask compatibility I would never go back (I’m am doctor and wear a mask all day at work).

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_Suspended_Account_ t1_j23zk1g wrote

FaceID is pretty much perfect. I recently switched to the Pixel 7, and while Face Unlock works most of the time, there are certain levels of light where it can't find me, where the iPhone had absolutely zero issues. If your brightness is up high enough, FaceID will work in the pitch black of night.

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MrsBenSolo1977 t1_j24225x wrote

I hate Touch ID. Face ID is so much better.

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F1shB0wl816 t1_j246vqy wrote

I liked Touch ID myself but I’ve had far less issues with face id. I almost never have a problem and it’s unlocked pretty much when I look at it. Where as the touch I almost needed to wipe down every handful of times.

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tshane_dot_com t1_j2658rf wrote

Your friend's opinion is just as valid as those expressed in these comments. It is in fact, a different experience. You'll find a way to adjust and make it work for you, but you will notice a difference. Whether or not you like the change will be up to your experience. In an ideal world, we'd have both! If you wear an Apple Watch, it will be a great advantage to your iPhone unlocking experience :)

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drDVMHomie OP t1_j273rcw wrote

Ah, I wondered! Yes, recently updated gen 1 AW and noticed it’ll unlock my MacBook Pro now, just by being near. If that’s true of new iPhone on the way, I’m a happy camper. Thanks for this!

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Ech0less t1_j276rxw wrote

So I came from a galaxy s21 ultra, and the faceid is so fast on my 14PM and very smooth so I really love it.

It can get mildly annoying using it face-down while working etc since I can't just unlock, but I just use something to prop it up(currently using rhinoshield magsafe gripmax, love it) so that i can just look at it to unlock and it has been great.

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na3800 t1_j21w3y5 wrote

Face ID fucks

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