iOS 14.5 update lets iPhone users use FaceID with mask on
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Apple, recently, started to seed iOS 14.5 Beta for iOS users. As expected, there are new software version comes with several new features. The more important feature additions include support for Xbox and PlayStation controllers, and most notably, the ability to unlock your iPhone using face unlock with the mask on - albeit with a caveat!
Let's take a closer look, shall we?
Unlocking the iPhone via the Apple Watch
With the pandemic still raging, one of Apple's most talked-about biometric authentication features - the Face Unlock - is sparingly used when outdoors. Since this unlock process involves identifying contours of your face, it is essential that you remove the mask to do so – something your co-workers and fellow humans shall certainly not appreciate. This leaves Apple users with just one other unlock method: the good old passcode.
With iOS 14.5, however, the FaceUnlock feature will work for you - even when you have a mask on. The only requirement is that you should ALSO be wearing an Apple Watch at the same time.
The prerequisite for this is an Apple Watch with watchOS 7.4 and, of course, an iPhone with iOS 14.5.
All that is needed to enter this mode is go to to settings and check the "Unlock with Apple Watch" option on. Once on, the iPhone will be able to identify you - even with a partially covered face.
Controller support for iPhones and iPads with iOS 14.5.
Moving on, Apple has managed to get devices running iOS 14.5 to have controller support for both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. The first hints of this came last year with iOS 14.3, so you'll get the ability to pair both the Series X controllers and the Japanese company's DualSense controllers with iPhones or iPads that have this latest beta of the operating system. It should be exciting to see if the new features of the DualSense controllers can also be integrated.
iOS 14.5 offers a few more new features on top of that, and of course the obligatory bug fixes, but these two mentioned seem to be the most interesting to me. Question for you: Which of the features is more exciting to you? Are you desperately waiting for a more practical way to unlock your iPhone while wearing a mask, or are you more interested in the addition of controller support?
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