The first beta of iOS 13.5 arrived yesterday with the stellar appearance of the first touches of the long-awaited API developed by Apple and Google to notify the exposure of subjects with COVID-19. Let us remember that this API will be made public and governments will be able to start incorporating it into their applications to standardize notifications and allow devices to access Bluetooth. Nevertheless, there is more news in this beta of iOS 13.5. One of them is related to learning Face ID. From now on, it is detected whether the individual is wearing a mask and, if they are, it will skip directly to unlocking by code.
iOS 13.5 focused on COVID-19: API with Google and Face ID
Face ID is a very complex tool. It is able to detect our face even when we wear accessories on it: glasses, hats, makeup, lipstick, etc. However, the difficulty increases when there are elements that interfere between the scan and the face. In this case, Face ID after several attempts will direct the user to access the terminal using the unlock code.
As pointed out by @ Sonikku_a2, if you're wearing a mask, iOS 13.5 goes straight to the passcode screen if you try to unlock with Face ID (keypad not shown because iOS hides it in screen recordings) pic.twitter.com/bQCzu5u20p
- Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) April 29, 2020
In times of COVID-19 there are millions of users who wear surgical or other masks and when it comes to unlocking your iPhone X (or higher) or the latest generations of the iPad Pro they cannot access using Face ID. This causes the unlocking of the terminal to be delayed compared to how it would be unlocked under normal conditions.
Because of this Apple has included an improvement in the first beta of iOS 13.5 related to Face ID. As soon as the True Depth camera complex detects that the user is wearing a mask, a screen will immediately be displayed where the user is allowed to quickly access the terminal by means of the unlock code.